Prey and Prejudice
by aviator6309
Summary: When Judy and Nick discover that they are more than just friends, they start a series of events - not only fighting mysterious car thieves, but also prejudices and hate when their love affair went public. Parental interfering, unexpected friends, outings, strange conspiracy theories - our favourite cops have to face new surprises every day! Cover image (c) ajie-g-sketchbook
1. Chapter 1 - Partners on Patrol

**Chapter 1 – Partners on patrol**

Nick stopped his car in front of Judy's apartment building. He checked the time: 5:35 am. Good. As he knew very well that Judy hates being late to work, he always took great care in arriving on time when it was his turn to drive. He had learned a lot about her in the past months. It had been a mild winter in Zootopia's main district and they had spent their entire time on duty together. Luck had been on their side, they had solved some major cases and even received some awards.

Nick knew that most of this was thanks to her accuracy, her cleverness and eagerness. But he could help her with his inside view of the criminal mind and his knowledge of how things were organized in the underworld of this bustling town. The combination of her being so by-the-rule and him being so let's-just-do-it had proven to be rather successful. Chief Bogo had named them team of the month twice in a row. Spending so much time together had it's effects, of course. He knows her taste of music, how she prefers her coffee, her fast food desires (important when you are a cop on patrol), how to tease her, how to please her…

Today would be different. He wanted to dare the next step in their relationship for weeks but always bailed out at the last moment. That bunny had changed him, you're not needing a genius to figure that out. For the first time in his life he was really part of something. The older cops were still mocking both of them from time to time but they were taken serious now. And the newbies were looking up to them. But all that was not so important as to be next to her all day, to smell her scent, to look in her brilliant eyes that were so full of life. Okay, okay, name it – he was in love with her. Man, it had took him quite some time to accept that simple fact, but it was not so easy – not only was she a different species, she was prey and he was a pred. His wild, pre-civilized ancestors had probably killed millions of bunnies. And even though most people nowadays were much more relaxed when it comes to partnership, sexuality and all of that, a mixed-species love affair was still something strange.

He sighed. He needed to forget about everything that might come up and just plan for the moment, as he had done when he was still a con-artist. His heart skipped a beat when the door of the apartment building opened and Judy hopped out, her wonderful body clad in the uniform she was so proud to wear and a wide smile on her face. She jumped on the modified passenger seat of his car. He had installed a higher seat so she could look out of the window in a normal way and not feeling like a child.

"Morning, carrots", he said, "why so happy that early in the morning?" – "Oh, no special reason – it's a sunny day, I had a large cup of coffee for breakfast, and I'm starting a new day in my dream job, together with my favorite partner!", she replied, giving him a broad grin. Nick smirked back, but his stomach was full of butterflies. Did she really mean it? Or was she just teasing him? Time to find out…

They arrived at ZPD station and after some friendly chit-chat with Clawhauser sat on their usual chair in the bull pen, as the briefing room was called. The department still had not cared buying chairs for smaller sized mammals, so they shared. Nick didn't mind – the closer he was to her, the better.

Chief Bogo stormed in, skipping the usual preliminaries as he needed to go to a police conference in Tundratown, quickly assigning the tasks to the day shift and stormed out merely 40 seconds after he came in.

"Wow – that was the briefest briefing ever!", giggled officer Kitty McMahon, a young feline, one of the newest recruits the department got. "So come on, big guy, let's hit the road!", she called out to officer Bullhorn, a giant rhino, who seemed not to be so happy about his talkative, lively new partner. Kitty gave Judy a short pat on the shoulder and Nick a wink with one of her astonishing blue eyes, "Bye, Judy, see ya, Foxy!", then she was out. Bullhorn heaved his weight out of his chair, mumbling "Someday, I'll put a sock in her ever-talking hole… hey, wait for me!" He rushed out.

Judy smiled at Nick, "Oh, she is calling you Foxy already… seems, you got yourself a new fan!", she made some kissing noises. Nick smirked, "Naah, I think she just forgot my name." – "Like hell she would…", Judy pretended to rip petals off a non-existant flower, "She likes you – she likes you a lot – she likes you even more…" – "Oh, talking of flirt buddies, where is your big, handsome tiger friend today? I get used to him purring a 'Good morning' close to your ear…" – "Oh, seriously, Nick, Tony is just a very friendly guy who appreciates that I helped a little with his first assignment two weeks ago…" – "Oh, yeah, of course… Tony, for real? How could someone name a tiger Tony? And why do I always think of a bowl of cereal when I hear his name?"

Judy's nose started twitching, "I don't know what you mean – you're talking nonsense. And now stop this – we have normal patrol duty and I don't want to be the last in car assignment, I can only drive three patrol cars and I hate that Dacia. But your jealousy is cute, by the way…"

Nick chose not to mention the fourth car she could drive (the three wheeled meter maid mobile) and followed her down to the garage. Officer Kensington, the snow leopard at car dispatch, sighed when he saw them coming. "I know, I know, not the Dacia – and no, I still didn't got any more E-sized upgrade kits for one of the other cars", he added quickly before she could ask.

Judy was constantly pesky on him to order kits enabling her to drive bigger cars – most police cars were B and C sized, a problem for Judy, as bunnies were only allowed to drive class E cars. So she needed special seat and pedal adjustments (so-called upgrade kits) to drive a bigger car. Nick, a D class animal, could at least drive the smaller class C cars.

"The Mustang?" she asked hopefully. Kensington laughed, "Dream on, twinky, it's gone – but I repaired the A/C in the BMW. I told no one yet, so nobody took it. I already installed your kit, so you can just hop in. But be careful on the clutch this time!", he gave her a smile. "You're the best! See ya at 5 pm!" – "Not if I see you first!", he gave his standard reply.

"Oh man, normal patrol duty – just driving here and there, some traffic accidents, some speeding tickets, loads of coffee and fast food…", Nick complained, preparing grounds for his attack. "Don't be so negative, at least the air conditioning is working", Judy replied happily. Now was the time! "May I ask you something?", Nick started shyly. "Of course, darling", Judy replied while merging in the traffic on the highway to Sahara Square. Yes, this seemed to go well. Nick gained confidence and removed his sunglasses. "I'm sick of fast food. What do you think of having diner together – today, after our shift has ended?" he asked her as casually as he could. Her reaction surpasses everything he had expected. "Great idea!" Judy shouted, "oh, Nick, I wanted to cook something for us ages ago – but then we had night shifts or a difficult case was on my mind or I was so tired, I forgot about it...", she grabbed his paw and pressed it, her touch made his heart rate go up by 60 bpms. He put his glasses back on, "Okay, it's settled, then – where and when?" – "Oh, I need to shop and some prep time… let's say 8.30 pm at my apartment?" Nick nodded. "Sounds cool. Should I bring something? A good wine, perhaps?"

Judy's ears drooped. "Oh, no, mister, no wine! Remember the police christmas party? I don't know what stuff you gave me there, but I was drunk as a skunk, don't remember how I got home and had a headache for two full days. Ah, but you could bring these round carrot cheese thingies you had last week – what was the name?" – "Carrot loops? Okay, you want them, you'll get them. By the way – veggie food only?" Judy grinned, "Surprise, surprise…"

With this dangerous mission accomplished, the rest of the shift was piece of cake for Nick. They played music, sang along loudly, laughed a lot and, shortly before shift ends, mother luck was on Nick's side once more, when they stopped a truck for speeding and found 20 tons of illegal alcohol. After they returned their patrol car, did the paperwork, received a broad smile from Chief Bogo for turning in the truck load of booze, Nick drove her home, a broad grin on his face. Judy was so excited she couldn't sit still for five seconds. Instead of opening the passengers door, she jumped on his lap, placing a quick kiss on his cheek and jumped easily out of the open window. "See you at 8:30! And, oh, I don't have time for make-up and wardrobe, so it's casual day today, allright?" And gone she was.

Nick hit the wheel hard with both fists. "Yes, yes, YES!" That couldn't have gone better even if he planned it. It was 6 pm. When he drove home, stereo cranked up to full volume, his head bopping in the rhythm of the music, he knew that the coming two and a half hours would be the longest of his life.


	2. Chapter 2 - Unexpected obstacles

**Chapter 2 – Unexpected obstacles**

Judy ran happily in her small apartment, threw her hat, utility belt and body armor over the chair, then danced around singing: "He's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming, Nick's coming to my home…", when a loud knocking on the wall interrupted her. "Hey, bunny! Cut it out! Your voice makes us sick!"

With the broadest grin Judy repeated the refrain at top of her lungs, adding an even louder "Whoo-hoo!" at the end. "It's your fault she has no more respect for us, Bucky!", she heard Pronk say. "You got that damn right, Antlerson!", Judy shouted. "It's Oryx-Antlerson!", Pronk shouted back. "Whatever!"

She was so excited. Finally Nick had asked her! She was a bit angry of herself, because she had wanted to invite him for weeks, but always bailed out last minute. She opened her drawer and took out the book she had bought two months ago: "Cooking for Foxes". She never cooked for a predator before. Of course she knew that they eat no real meat anymore but the so-called surrogate meat made from insects. The book she bought has a chapter explaning the basics, but she had no time for this. Judy planned to made carrot casserole for herself and found a recipe in the book that didn't look too complicated: "Pomeranian Stew, a basic dish for European Red Foxes". She checked the ingredients list – great, she had everything in her little fridge, except, of course, the meat surrogate, a mix of 26 different insects squeezed together. The book said that she could prepare it herself… "Ewww…" she said, looking at the pictures. No, thanks. She read aloud: "In most pred stores you will have that special mix ready as it is used for a lot of common dishes – ask for Canine Mix No. 433." That seemed to be easy.

Judy checked the clock – 125 minutes to go, the supermarket was round the corner. Would she get that mix there? Supermarkets were the only stores she had seen in Zootopia where prey and pred food were sold side by side. But the book recommended buying the mix fresh from a predator butchery. She used her smartphone to find out that there was one only two streets away – great! She hopped down the stairs and ran quickly to the address. Strange, she passed here twice daily but never noticed the shop before – as a vegetarian she was obviously blind for butcheries.

She entered the store and was in a different world. The smell was pure horror in here. She breathed flatly thru her mouth and waited in line. An old lioness just got what looked like half a ton of insect goo in a plastic bag. When she had left, a young cheetah bought something called "Fake antilope" – then it was her turn. The friendly smile of the huge puma behind the counter turned into a disgusted frown as soon as he laid eyes on her.

"Get out – the flower shop is o'er the street!" he grunted. Judy tried to look as friendly as she could, "Excuse me, sir, I would like…" – "I told ya, there's nothing in here you would like – next!" He turned to the lady behind Judy, "What can I do for you today, Miss Gellert?" Judy's nose twitched, her foot stomping rapidly on the tiled floor. "Canine mix No. 433 – please!" she said quickly before the lady could answer. The butcher smirked, "Whaddya want with that?", he asked. "What do you think?", she replied angrily, "I want to cook for a friend who happens to be a predator!" – "Pah, li'l hares don't have pred friends." Miss Gellert ignored Judy and asked "Is it my turn now?" in a high pitched voice that made Judy wish she had brought a gun. "Sir, first I'm a bunny, not a hare, second, it's still my turn as I have not gotten what I asked politely for and, third, I will definitely not leave this shop WITHOUT THAT STUPID CANINE MIX NO 433, IF – YOU – PLEASE!"

She had shouted the last words as loud as she could looking directly in the eyes of the puma towering above here. Miss Gellert looked like she would have a heart attack right now as she stared unbelievingly at the small mammal in front of her. "Janine!" called the puma back into the room behind the counter, "Call the police!" Judy grinned bitterly, "Oh, sir, not necessary…", she flipped her batch, "I'm officer Judy Hopps, ZPD, at your service – would you please state your emergency?" she asked with a voice as sweet as honey. A young female puma – supposedly Janine – appeared behind the butcher, whispering "Hey dad, that's her!" – "Who?" – "That hare cop from the newspaper – and she was on TV with the savage preds an' all, bringing that assistant mayor goat, Bell-, Bell-what's-her-face in jail – that was so cool!"

Judy sighed. At least, the girl had called her "cool". "That's about true, except I'm still a bunny, not a hare. And may I get my Canine mix No. 433 now? I need one kilo, please" Total silence. Then the butcher vanished in the back room, his young daughter still gawking at Judy with a dumb face. He came back, throwing a package to her. She managed to catch it, but it was heavy and had hurt her. "What do I owe you?", she said through gritted teeth, "25 bucks", he replied. "But the price tag reads 3.99!" – "Wow, it can read!"

Someone started to giggle. Jody fumed, threw a five dollar bill over the counter and hissed "Keep the rest – for the friendly service!" When she left the shop, she heard Miss Gellert say: "I can't believe it – hares becoming cops and buying pred food – what will be next?" – "BUNNY!" she yelled in the shop and slammed the huge door. She ran home, tears were running from her eyes.

She stormed her apartment, slammed the door, threw the package on her bed and yelled "What – a – stupid – PRICK! What did I do wrong? I'm gonna kill him! And his dumbfuck of a daughter! Why isn't there a law that prevents those idiots procreating?" She beat both fists on the table. Knock, knock, "Hey bunny, what the hell…" – "SHUT THE FUCK UP, ANTLERSON!" shouted Judy. She was sure, she'd never been that angry in her life, "When I hear one more word, I swear to God, I'll come over and kick your fat butt out of this galaxy!" She threw herself on the bed, crying in her pillow. "Man, she adapted to city life quickly!", she heard Bucky say in a hushed voice to Pronk, "Yeah, man , I like her!", his partner responded. Judy giggled in the middle of crying. She took a look on her watch: 7:22 pm.

"Fuck!", she jumped out of bed, took the pred food package she fought so hard for and stormed the kitchen. The cooking went well and her mood improved. She opened the pack with the surrogate meat and added it to the other ingredients that sizzled in the pan. It had a green-brownish color, a gooey consistence and smelled like roadkill three days out in the sun. Quickly she put a lid on the pan and checked the recipe. Okay, 15 minutes time now – enough for a shower. Five minutes later she looked at her reflection in the small mirror, her fur still damp. She was always a bit embarrassed about her legs, being so short and muscular and her large feet of course. Her breast were quite small, even for a bunny, but she used to like her flat belly with the sixpack she got in Academy training.

At least – until two weeks ago when she walked out of the shower at ZPD and found some five other female officers, including Kitty MacMahon, gawking at her. "Wow!", Kitty had screamed, "are these real?" Judy had been quite sure that Kitty was not referring to her tiny breasts. Well-endowed Kitty was in underwear and looked like a super model – in fact, she had been a model, but had changed to becoming a police officer, "because of action – modeling is soooo boring. All good looking guys are gay and all other models are stupid bitches!", the cat officer used to say.

No, of course she was referring to her sixpack. "Lassie, you look like you've been chiseled out of a block of granite! Attention, girls, here comes bunny Terminatrix!" The others laughed and Judy had laughed with them. She was sure, Kitty tried to compliment her, but she was a little unsure now. Was she not female enough? Would Nick like her body? The last thought confused her – he was a fox, for crying out loud, how could he ever liked a bunny like her? Why did she like everything about Nick so much? His tall size, his ruffled fur that feels so rough compared to her's, his enormous, bushy tail, his cute emerald eyes, his scent, his grin, his soft and tender paws… "Stop it, Judy!", she scolded herself, "I… I like him, yes, he's quite funny… and nice… and soooo handsome! Oh my gosh…", she sighed. No use pretending, she was head over heels in love with him. But what chance did this love have? Not only they were different species, no, he was a predator, she was prey. What would happen, if she would confess her love to him? Would he really care? Or did he just like joking around with her, but has no feelings for her?

She sighed again and walked in the kitchen to check the food. Her casserole was in the oven, looked good. She lifted the lid of the pan. A sharp, pungeant smell came out of it. "Ewwww…" She quickly checked the book, but the stew looked exactly like the picture. She stirred and out of habit licked the spoon before thinking. "Yukk!" She ran over to the sink, spat out and washed her mouth with water. "I really hope he likes it… why have we to be so different…" She was on the verge of tears again. No, not yet, he would see it. "Geez, he'll be here in five and I'm still in underwear!"

She checked her clothes. Her jeans looked to much hillbilly, her black pants were far too elegant. Jogging suit – no way. Hot pants? Looked good on her, but maybe a bit too slutty for a first date. She settled with a light blue leggins ending just above her knees. And a belly free white T-shirt. She checked the mirror. Yes – sassy, but not slutty. She quickly set the small table, moved it to her bed, as she had only one chair, that was too small for her. She would sit on the bed, he could have the chair.

8:30 exactly. A knock at the door. "Wow, I'm impressed!", she giggled silently. A last deep breath – now or never! She opened the door.


	3. Chapter 3 - The First Date

**Chapter 3 – The First Date**

Nick stood in front of Judy's door and checked his watch. 8:29. He waited patiently until the exact time, then he knocked. He heard the sound of her feet running to the door, then she opened. She looked tremendous, giving him a radiant smile, her brilliant purple eyes wide open and so full of affection, he would have fallen for her again if he hadn't been from the start. For some seconds they smiled at each other until he said "Hi… ehh – may I come in or are we eating here?"

Judy blushed, "N-n-no, of course, come in!" As soon as he was inside, she closed the door and hugged him placing a kiss on his cheek. He smelled great, he looked great in a neatly pressed black shirt with a shining white vest above and black jeans. His hands had been behind his back all the time and when she gave him a puzzled look, he said "Left or right?" – "Right!" He put his right hand front, holding a bag of cheese loops, "Our dessert!" he said. "Gee, thanks, I love this stuff – and today I don't care about the fat and calories!" When she turned around to put the bag on the table he called "Hey, carrots, you forgot the other hand!" For a split second she imagined him offering her a small box with a ring – he wouldn't, would he? "L-left", she said cautiously. In a sudden movement an arrangement of the most beautiful purple flowers appeared in front of her face.

"Oh, Nick, these are so wonderful!" When she reached for the buquet, he pulled it away, "Hey, carrots, they are not for eating – you should put them on the table!" – "Ha-ha, you still think this old veggie joke is funny, don't you?" He smirked, "As a matter of fact, I do. But hey… it smells wonderful in here – like… like pred food?" He gave her an unbelieving look. "I hope you like Pomeranian stew… if not we must share carrot casserole."

His eyes went wide, "Really? Wow, Judy, I haven't had that in… at least 10 years! And that was in a restaurant. My mom used to make it…" For a second, his eyes went out of focus and Judy wondered, not for the first time, what happened to his familiy. He never talked about that and she didn't want to force him to. She left him alone with his thoughts and went in the small kitchen to prepare dinner. Usually, she was annoyed by the plates in here, they were much to large for her little bunny portions, but today they were just big enough. She had used the quantities given in the book and his portion looked huge – she could live three days from so much food.

She brought the two plates to the table, they sat down and started eating. After the first bite he said "Carrots, this is magnificient – I swear I can't remember when I have eaten such a good stew – you did that all yourself, didn't you? No convenient food, no can, am I right?" She smiled at him, munching her dish, "Yes, I did it all myself – except for grinding the insects, I bought a pre-packed mix." She tried not to think about the unpleasant scene in that butchery. "You really went through all the hassle – just for making me dinner? I really appreciate that, Judy!"

She looked up, surprised as he rarely used her real name. He was looking at her with that look she had seen often in the last days – not his cool grin that was so typical, but a strange, vulnerable look that riddled her. His green eyes that were so beautiful seem to look directly in her soul. She felt her blood rush through her body instantly but couldn't help looking back.

Nick just couldn't stop looking at her – she was so breathtaking beautiful in that belly free shirt and her short leggings and this look she gave him, her small mouth, her tiny nose, her long, wonderful ears – he just wanted to take in that view for as long as possible. And the fact she went through all the effort cooking him a predator menu, even though the smell of the bugs must have been horrible for her. And he was not exaggerating, the taste was really extraordinary. As most singles he didn't like cooking for him alone, so most of the time he lived of snacks or fast food.

"Are… are you okay?" she stammered. "Could not be better, cotton tail – could I have seconds, please?" She giggled, relieved he was back to his usual self and hopped into the kitchen to put the rest out of the frying pan on his plate. When she put the plate in front of him, he grabbed her and kissed her right on the nose. "Compliment for the cook", he said in a low voice. "Gee, thanks, Nick", oh no, she was blushing again, sat on the bed and start munching on the cheese loops.

They ended their meal in silence, but it was a pleasant silence full of meaningful looks. He helped clearing the table and wanted to do the dishes with her, but she shrugged it off, "No, I'll do that tomorrow – what do you want to do now?" To her great surprise he didn't hesitated for one instant before answering "Talking – I need to talk to you, really" – "O-o-okaaaay, sounds good", she said slowly, wondering what would be next. He seems to be so nervous and serious.

They both sat on her bed and Nick took not only all his courage but also Judy's paws in his. They were so warm and soft, but he needed to be focused now. He had practised this at home, at least he tried, but had given up and decided to improvise, depending on the feelings and on the atmosphere during the date.

"Judy, I want you to know that you really changed my entire life. And I do not mean the job, I mean… I was so cynical, had no real perspective, I was living from one day to the next, thinking I was so smart and that this would just go on forever. And I was so mean to you, saying all this horrible things when we first met, about this city crushing your little dreams, you being so naïve, being just a carrot farmer, all this stuff."

He looked so sad and depressed, Judy couldn't help but intervened "Oh, Nick, that was long ago and you had been right in at least two things – I was naïve and I had been a carrot farmer" – "No, YOU had been right all the time – it is in everybody to make their dreams come true, you even believed a rotten fox who did nothing but ripping people off could become a police officer. You never cared when people told you that things are impossible. You just did them. You are the most wonderful person I ever met, with the most wonderful heart and the purest soul and… Judy, I know this may be difficult to understand for you, as I am not only different species – but I am a predator and you…" He paused for a second, unsure how to continue. Man, all the things he wanted to tell her sounded so much like those cheesy lines from a B-movie, but he got this far and he won't stop now.

"I tried to figure out what I am feeling for you, what you are to me, what you MEAN to me." She hold her breath as she saw his eyes glistening full of tears. She pressed his paws. "There is only one conclusion", Nick continued, "I don't give a damn what people think, I don't care you are a bunny, I don't think of you as prey or small mammal or whatever the rest of the world sees in you. I love you, Judy. I love you with all my heart and I want you to be my girl and this time it is I who wants to proof all the other idiots out there, that a love between a fox and a bunny is NOT impossible, I will make it work, together with you. But it will be hard, make no mistake about that. You know of course about hardship, you've been through police academy – when I was there, I wondered every minute how you made it through that nuthouse. But I would understand when you want me to leave now…"

"Nick!", she threw herself in his arms, tears flowing freely from her huge eyes, "I love you, I really do! I was so confused, because I couldn't make out my feelings, I didn't knew if you would ever be able to see more in me than just a dumb bunny. I was so prejudiced against you when we first met, I just followed you into that ice cream parlor because you are a fox and I thought you would do some shady business in there…" – "And you were totally right about that!", Nick grinned.

"No, that was not what I meant, I just… I wanted… I think, I…" – "Hush, little bunny", he said softly and pressed his muzzle againt her mouth and kissed her. It was the most wonderful experience she'd ever had, she simply gave in and enjoyed the feeling. She slowly opened her mouth to show him she was ready for more, and in the moment their tongues collided, the world stopped for both. His paws were everywhere over her body and she was running hers through his ruffled fur that was so thick and rough in some parts and so soft and cuddly in others.

Their kiss lasted for an eternity and when they finally laid panting on her bed, her face pressed against his breast, her ears gently stroked by his tender paws, she sighed "I am the happiest being in the entire universe!" – "After me!", he replied. She giggled, "I hope we hadn't been too loud", she whispered, "these nosy neighbours of mine…" Nick turned his head to the wall behind Judy's bed and said loudly: "I bet, those guys are listening right now!" Judy lifted her head in shock, "Shhh, Nick…" when someone behind the wall said "No, we're not!", followed shortly by another voice saying "You're such an idiot!"

Judy and Nick giggled, she needed to press her paw on her mouth to not lough out loud. All the tension of the past hours had gone, they were lying silently on the small bed, caressing each other, kissing and having not a single care in the world. When his paws were getting naughtier, she stopped him, "Please, Nick, I do not want to rush things – I want this to be special, you know, as it will be the very first time I ever… you know… I am still…" – "… a virgin?", he asked. She nodded. "Yeah, I could always run faster than my cousins and brothers", she said earnestly, then laughed at Nick's shocked face. "Just an old carrot farmer joke. But yes – I am still a virgin – my sister always mocked me, she said I must be the oldest virgin among all bunnies. She's probably right, the usual prejudices about teenage bunnies being randy all day are true, but I never got into this, I was always focusing on my great goal… maybe I am special" – "You are, my love, and that is exactly why I have fallen for you", he replied softly.

They kissed again, then Judy complimented him politely out reminding him that they needed to get up early next morning for day shift. Nick protested only a little and after a final long wet kiss they parted. Twenty minutes later, she was in bed, lights out. She was naked and when she remembered his kisses her paw wandered between her legs, dreaming of things he might do to her in the future. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of her parents, her colleagues, chief Bogo… this would not go unnoticed for long, trouble would follow, Nick was perfectly right about it. She pressed these thoughts away for now, her fingers getting quicker and quicker until she let out a silent moan when this special day culminated in a blissful orgasm. Ten minutes later she was sound asleep, a damp patch on her sheet.


	4. Chapter 4 - When Duty Calls

**Chapter 4 – When Duty Calls**

Never before in his entire life had Nick been so happy when the alarm clock chimed at 5 am in the morning. Eight minutes later, he was showered, dressed in a fresh uniform, jumped down the stairs into his car and drove off, stereo blasting at full volume. He drove recklessly, disregarding all speed limits while singing out loudly. The weather matched his mood; it was bright and sunny, not a single cloud in the sky. He screeched to a halt in the no parking zone in front of the Grand Pangolin Arms apartment building, hopped out, bolted up the stairs, three steps at a time and knocked at Judy's door at 5:22. Half a second later the door flew open, he was pulled inside and the two bodies crashed together. Judy had jumped high enough to embrace him, her legs around his chest, tongues colliding hard.

Three and a half minutes later they were finally able to unlock. "Good morning, honey bunny!" – "Good morning. I must think of a proper, cute name for you, my cute handsome fox", she purred and the kissing started all over again. She had to press his face away from hers with both paws.

"Officer Nicholas P. Wilde, kissing a fellow officer is a violation of the ZPD code of conduct", she reprimanded him. "Oh, a good thing we are not on duty yet", replied Nick smirking, while playfully chasing her through the little room. She took cover behind the table, "But we are in uniform and should set a moral example for the population of Zootopia", she said seriously holding her paw up imitating chief Bogo.

To her utter astonishment, Nick jumped over the table, kicked the chair aside that crashed in the wall, grabbed her, lifted her up and threw her on the bed. Before she could cath breath, he was on top of her, grinning, "Then, officer Hopps, we should get rid of that stupid uniform asap." And opened her belt buckle.

Now she was furious, kicking him with her huge feet hard in the chest, bolting to the door, "Nick, are you insane? We'll be late to work! Gimme back my belt!" – "Awww…", he bowed his head down, rolled up his eyes and folded back his ears, while throwing her utility belt over to her.

"Your puppy dog face does not work on me, I've built up a tolerance." She took a quick look in the mirror, adjusting her belt. "Geez, Nick, you ruffled my fur!", she complained. "You look awesome, cotton tail" – "Yeah, thanks, but now let's drive over – and keep your naughty paws at your side of the car, okay? Seriously, Nick, we must be cautious, I don't want any trouble at work!"

So, Nick behaved well during the drive, they grabbed a donut at Clawhauser's desk and walked in the bull pen without further ado, as it was already close to 6 am. The room was packed, which was unusual, all chairs were taken, so they had to squeeze in the back of the room. As Nick and Judy were the smallest cops in ZPD, this was a huge disadvantage, they only saw a forest of blue clad legs and backs. Next to Judy was what looked like a striped wall, the shanks of officer Tony Thiruvanthapurram, the enormous tiger, that was, at least in Nick's opinion, a little to friendly with Judy. Nearly two heads bigger than the other tigers and extremely muscular, always wearing short trunks, "to show off his legs", as Nick put it, he was a view to boot and could stop a stampede of citizens with a single look.

"Hey, Tony", Judy called upwards, "D'ya know what's going on here?" A ten feet wide smile ran over the orange face, "Hi, Judy, you look lovely today", he said in his deep bariton voice. He lowered his table sized paw down on the floor next to her. "Hop on, I'll lift you up – all officers had been called in for a special briefing today", he explained.

She stepped on his muscular paw and carefully he lifted her up high in the air so her head was now even above Francine, the elephant. "Whoa", she tried to keep her balance, getting a bit dizzy from that unusual view. Tony looked down to Nick. "Hey, Nick, I have another paw, wanna take a ride? No problem for me as you guys weigh practically none…" – "Thanks, bud, I'll keep what little pride I still have… have you had cereal for breakfast?", he asked out of nothing. Tony looked puzzled, "Yes, as a matter of fact I had – why are you asking?" Judy did a facepalm. Nick grinned, "No, nothing, was just curious… don't know why that came into my mind!"

"Don't listen to that rabid fox, he's talking nonsense all the time…" hissed Judy, when the officer at the door called out "Atten-hut!"

All voices calmed down as the impressive figure of police chief Bogo stomped inside, throwing a huge folder on his desk and clicking on the beamer. On the screen behind him a series of pictures of fancy sport and muscle cars appeared. "Silence!", he yelled, even though it had already been completely silent in the room. He looked around, stopped at Tony and Judy, put his glasses on and took a closer look. "Officers Hopps and Tony", he said in a silent, dangerous voice. Everyone called the tiger by his first name as his last name put a knot in most mammal's tongues. "When you two are ready impersonating the statue of liberty over there, I would like starting today's emergency briefing!" – "Sorry, Sir, just wanted to see whats going on!", Judy apologized. "Hmmph", he grunted, "Tony, at least lower her a little, she's clearing cobwebs with those long ears." Obediently, the tiger moved his paw down by a foot.

"There is something afoot in town. We have a huge number of cars getting stolen all over the districts, you see the pics behind me. All big, all expensive, all stolen at night. Unusual is, that none of these re-appeared on black market, neither complete nor in parts. We have no witnesses, no clues whatsoever and I HATE standing in front of that mayor with nothing in my hooves while he's complaining that all his doctors, lawyers and bosses he's friendly with for his next campaign called him at night complaining about their stolen toys! Unfortunately, as we have nothing, as I said, the only thing we could do is waiting for the next theft and hope those guys are making mistakes. In order to force them, we will put pressure on them. At night, where those thefts usually take place, I want full patrol duty in marked and unmarked cars, while on day shifts we'll hit the streets with all patrol cars we have, showing presence. Maybe we are lucky and those guys get nervous. When they get nervous, they'll change plans, they'll goof up. Okay, all of the day shift who are not working on special cases – patrol duty! The late and night shift will get their tasks in the later briefings. Dismissed!"

Nick and Judy needed to be careful not to get trampled by the mass of cops squeezing through the doors. They used a small emergency staircase to get down in the garage, securing the BMW and managed to leave the garage before the others came down. Judy flipped through the list with names, addresses and car types that had been handed out after the briefing. "Looks like we're playing Grand Theft Auto today", she sighed, but Nick was worried, "Carrots, when I was still in the shady business, I always tried to stay away of those car geeks – they are all crazy and there is a lot of violence going on, especially when you think how much money is in there. Ten thousand bucks a day is no big deal working with fancy cars. Better making only 200 with pawpsicles and alive to tell the tale." – "You think there's a new gang in town?", Judy asked. "Sure, Mr. Big has left a vacuum", Nick replied. It has been three months ago, when Mr. Big invited both of them to dinner telling them that he would leave organized crime for good. His daughter Fru Fru had never liked and after he'd become a grandfather (Judy was the godmother), he had given in her constant pleading and changed his entire organization to web commercials. "Ahh, Nicky, my friend", he had said in his low, accentuated voice, "if I had known earlier how much money you could make in the internet, I had done this step years ago. I started up this internet firm as a cover up and for money laundry, but only one year after that I made more money legally than with the other crap – and no risks of being killed or getting caught – instead I receive invitations and Zootopia university offered me an economy doctor title honoris causa. So many lives could have been spared, if I had known this earlier…" He had closed his eyes and no one had wanted to interrupt his thoughts.

Judy smiled remembering that unusual party. Then the sighed and as Nick was in the driver's seat today, instructed him, "Okay, Nick, we'll start Tundratown and try to be in Meadowlands by noon" – "Great, we could spent lunch break there – I know a desolate spot where no one could see us while we fog up the car windows." – "Nick, really!", she laughed, "you're so nasty. You don't want to eat somewhere instead? It will be a long day!" Nick turned his head, grinning, "I am looking at my lunch right now!" – "Don't you think this is inappropriate for a pred talking to a prey?", she giggled. "Let's wait 'til noon, then I'll show you what's inappropriate", he replied, lifted one eyebrow looking as sinister as possible. "Oooookay, Nick, that's enough, now! We'll concentrate on our job and when you have been a good 'lil foxy, maybe I'll let you lure me into this place in Meadowlands…" – "You're such a good bunny!" – "And you're such a mean, vicious fox! And now drive on, we'll get off the highway at Taiga Street, criss-crossing through the industrial area! Look for anything suspicious – and a coffee shop, I could do with a cappucino!" Nick sighed, "Aye-aye, ma'am!"

Even with the cozy intermezzo of the lunch break in Meadowlands, it was a tiring day for the two cops. The radio was full of false alarms and after they finally turned back the car at 7.15 pm thanks to a huge traffic jam on Lionheart Ave, they decided to call it a day and not spending the evening together in order to cure their lack of sleep.

Next morning's briefing was as unpleasant as could be with Bogo yelling at his entire crew. While more than sixty cops had patrolled the area, two more cars had been stolen under their noses and they had no more clues than the day before. Nick and Judy got assigned Sahara Square today, which lifted Nick's mood as he hoped to put the next step of his plan into action. It was crucial for this that he could point Judy's attention to a certain place at Sahara Square before the weekend…


	5. Chapter 5 - Take the Girl out

**Chapter 5 – Take the Girl out**

As a former con artist, Nick had gotten used to planning things well ahead. So it had been two weeks before that successful first date in Judy's apartment, when he had started preparations for another heist – a fancy dinner in a restaurant. This may sound easy, but the problem here was that he was a predator and wanted to have dinner with a member of the prey community. According to the law, that should be no problem, but Nick was well aware of the discrepancies between theory and practical life in Zootopia. Most restaurants have specialized on either prey or pred food. Those places were of no use to him. A few number of places, however, served both – but separately, in two rooms. Of course, those were also off the list.

The only places where pred and prey could have meals at the same table were fast food restaurants, the small street cafes Judy and Nick often visited for their coffee breaks – and very exclusive places, where pred and prey businessman haggled out their deals during exquisite meals. The latter ones seemed to be the only alternative for Nick, but he had two problems to face here: Those places were, of course, very expensive and his cop salary was meager to say the least. Second, you could not just call and place a reservation, those places were booked out months in advance, unless you are one of the big shots in the city that always get a table. He definetely was not one of those.

So, when he was checking out places using his smartphone at this time, he came across a very fancy place, The Giant Palmtree Cuisiniere, a five-star restaurant in one of the top sights in Sahara Square. The Giant Palmtree was one of the highest skyscrapers in the world, with 261 stories; it held a luxury hotel, several high class fashion stores, a mall where the high society went shopping – and that named panorama restaurant at the 255th floor. The menu on the internet had loads of french named dishes for pred and prey but no prices – always a bad sign. You could place an online reservation, but as Nick had expected, it was booked out 'til next winter. When he was flipping through the calender and just was about to close the page, he stumbled across a green spot in the current month – a free table, only three weeks from now?

The date of that day, a Saturday, reminded him of something and a took him a minute to figure out why – it was the date of the ZMSL final game, the Zootopia Major Soccer League. Of course! All the big shots would be in the VIP lounges of the Grand Stadium that could seat 250,000 animals. Nearly no one wanted to have dinner in a restaurant that night – except him. He just hoped that Judy was not a big soccer fan. He sighed and opened the online reservation form. The reservation alone cost him 40 bucks and he needed a credit card. He rummaged through his drawer, he had at least 40 credit cards but he had used them mostly for false validations and other "shady businesses" as Judy would call it. Most of them had even false identities. He made a mental note to get rid of these – would not look nice in a cop's personal file if they trace one of those cards back to him. He finally found a small envelope, containing a golden LynxMasterCard, complete with PIN number. It was on his real name and connected to an existing bank account, also on his real name.

He had never used it before, he used to carry it around during his former profession, in case he got in a tough spot and needed proper money. The account connected only held a hundred bucks, enough for the reservation, but he would definetely need to fill it before they went.

After he entered his name and card details, he reserved a table for two. After that, the words "Food choice" together with two boxes appeared on the screen, marked "Pred" and "Prey". He tried to click both, but as soon as he hit the latter, the first one went blank again. "Damn!", he said. Aren't there any animals in this town that had dinner together with one from the other side? Not even for business purpose? He hadn't expected that being so difficult. He let the box "Prey" marked and went on.

 _In order to accommodate to your and your guests special needs and for seating arrangement, please state species:_

"Geez!", Nick said, "I wonder if I have to file a resumee…" He typed "Fox, bunny", then replaced the latter with "rabbit", hesitating which one sounded more formal. He erased the whole box again, this time writing "European Red Fox (pred food) and Rabbit (prey food)" He was not sure, what was the exact name of Judy's race. After giving email address and cell phone number, he finally pressed the send button. Fifteen seconds later he got an automated email with the confirmation. Nick sighed. That had been the easy part.

So, now, nearly three weeks after that, the two of them were sitting in their car driving along the main street of Sahara Square, Nick started throwing out the bait. "Look at the Giant Palmtree! Isn't that wonderful?" Judy sipped her cappuccino, "Yeah, it was one of the first things I saw, when I first came to Zootopia. It is really impressive! They even have a restaurant at one of the top floors, haven't they?" She took it! No mistakes now, reel in slowly… "The food they have is really good, at least that's what everyone says", Nick sayed calmly. "Oh, man, I would really like to try it, but I bet it's horrible expensive!", Judy sighed. Slowly now… "Yes, that would be great…", and then, as if this was a spontaneous idea, he added, "Hey, you know what, we only live once, why don't we have dinner there?"

She looked at him, her eyes even bigger than usual, "Are you serious? Oh, Nick, I'd love to! But I could not afford to go…" – "Hey, carrots, don't forget, you are my girl now, I'll treat you, ok? When can we… hey, we're both on early shift on Saturday and have Sunday off, so why don't we just go Saturday evening?" Now, she gawked at him open mouthed. "B..but Nick, have you any idea, how long you need to wait to get a table in one of those places? Even a carrot farming bunny girl is not so naïve…"

"Hey, you are talking to a former con artist – I'll get a reservatipon, because it is for you and when it's the last thing I'll do." – "Oh, this is so sweet of you!", she jumped over, threw both arms around him, kissing his cheek. The car was swerving. "Hey, careful, carrots, I'll hit a lamp post!" She laughed, then hesitated, "Are you really serious about that, Nick?" – "Of course, I am! At 7 pm? Or, no, better make that 8 pm, the soccer game is in process then and the streets will be empty." He played his game with her, the reservation he had was for 8 pm, hey, but in war and love everything was allowed. "I'm so excited!", she yelled, but suddenly her cute little face darkens, "Oh, no…" Nick's blood was turning to ice water, "What's up, cotton tail?", he said, trying to sound cool. "I've nothing to wear – I need to go shopping today! I want to look as fancy as I could!" Nick relaxed, "It's settled then, day after tomorrow, I'll be at your place at 7.30 pm sharply."

The rest of the shift was busy, giving out speeding tickets, checking some old trucks that looked dangerous and helping at a traffic accident with two injured beavers, but all the time, Nick noticed the extremely good mood of his girl and every time he caught her eye, she gave him this admiring look where the purple of her eyes had this shimmering inside, that made the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. He just hoped she wouldn't call the dinner off because she didn't find a nice dress.

Judy did not allow Nick to join her after duty, as she desperately wanted to go shopping. To save time, she asked him to drop her off near one of the fancy malls near Central Station. It was not what she usually would do, shop in her police uniform, but she'd had more time this way. So she walked through the mall and admired the perfectly lit shop windows of the great fashion labels. She took a deep breath, then entered the Preyda shop. If Gazelle bought her stuff here, it must be fancy enough for every restaurant in town, or not?

A very elegant sable girl looked at her nervously. "Is anything wrong, officer?", she asked. "No, no, I just… I mean, I need a dress!", Judy replied even more nervously. For a second, Judy thought that beautiful young women would kick her out as she gave her an unbelieving look. But then she smiled, "Oh, of course, officer. Follow me, please!" They walked down several aisles with fashion in different sizes, giraffes, pumas, deer, cats until they reached the smaller sizes. Judy, walking behind, admired the way the sable girl was walking, she looked so elegant. Her hopping seemed to be totally out of place here. She lead Judy to a small cabin. "Would you undress here, please?", she asked, as if this was the most natural thing to do. Judy blushed. "Why?" – "Oh, sorry, officer, but I need to see you in your underwear, so I can better estimate what size you would need." Judy blushed even more, feeling more than ever like the dumb carrot farming girl on her first trip to town. "Oh, by the way, my name is Terri", she said. "Oh, I am Judy – as you might have guessed it is my first time at such a place!", Judy whispered, trying to apologize. Terri smiled shyly, "I know, I've seen you on the news – and don't worry, I started in this shop only two months ago".

Both girls giggled a little and suddenly Judy felt all comfortable. It was fun testing a lot of pretty robes, but those things simply didn't suit her. "Oh, wait", Terri said finally, "I think, I know just the dress for you!", she vanished and came back two minutes later with another dress. Judy tried it on. When she came out of the cabin, Terri gasped, "Oh, Judy, you look amazing in this! You have just the perfect figure for this dress – it looks like it was tailored just for you!" Judy looked in the mirror and couldn't believe the girl in there was really her. "Wow…" She wasn't able to say more.

"Christine! Jasmine! Come over here, you MUST see this!" A lioness and a fawn came over, both looking and walking like the super models on TV. "Wow!", the lioness exclaimed, "Madam, you look so beautiful in this." The fawn added "Yeah, she just needed high heels for this!" Terri shook her head, "No, high heels do not look good on a bunny – sorry, madam, no offense, but really, they would look huge on your feet and just take attention away from that dress. No, go barefoot, that's much better."

The liness nodded, the fawn seemed not convinced, but as there was no way Judy could learn to walk on high heels in just two days, she decided to side with Terri on this. But she had another problem – she had taken a look at the prize tag and went pale. She would need to work three full weeks for this! But Nick expected her to look fancy and so she gulped and started calculating. If she used her bank card, her account would be nearly emptied out. The next paycheck would arrive in two weeks. This would be two meager weeks, but she could lose some grams anyway. She got back in uniform and followed the grinning Terri to the desk. She handed over her card and stopped breathing as Terri swiped it through the register. She hoped it wouldn't get rejected. Terri beamed at her, "Is it for a date?", she whispered, "Yes", Judy replied smiling, "Oh, your boyfriend will be such a proud bunny when you two go out" – "I hope so, but he is a fox!", she corrected her without thinking. Terri gawked at her, stammering "Oh, I… you mean… I thought… Oh!", her eyes suddenly went wide and the beautiful sable threw her head back and laughed so loud the other attendants sent her a reproachful look. She stuffed a paw in her mouth, trying to get a grip on herself. "Of course! A fox! That's what I get when I am too nosy – you are so cool. A fox – yeah, I used to date an elephant once!" She broke out in another fit of giggles and Judy tried to play along, knowing about the mistake she'd made. At least, her card got accepted. She thanked the still laughing Terri and left the store. She got home by bus, put the dress carefully in the little cupboard and used her smartphone to check her account. Great, she sighed, 14 days left 'til next paycheck – and 26.35 $ to go. Oh man, if Nick would get no reservation like he promised, she would kick the money for that dress out of him until the very last dime!


	6. Chapter 6 - Dinner in the Clouds

**Chapter 6 – Dinner in the Clouds**

Nick on the other hand had completely different problems. No one should think that he has only hawaii shirts in his closet, no, he had been an expert in becoming invisible in every environment, meaning that of course he owned elegant evening clothes. Directly after he had let Judy out in front of the mall, he had visited a bank and transferred a thousand bucks out of his silent reserve to his official bank account. This had been the last of his "dark money", from now on his was fully dependent of his honestly earned but meager police salary. No, Nick's problem was transport. He wanted this evening to be a full success and that would definetely not happen when he stopped in front of an elegant restaurant in his dented, smoking piece of shit. The old Wolveswagen he bought six years ago had only one advantage – it was completely inconspicous, one car in a million.

To solve this problem, he drove back to the ZPD and walked in the garage. Officer Kensington raised an eyebrow when he saw Nick. "Still on duty?" the snow leopard asked in his gruff voice, "Nah, I'm here 'cause I wanted a word with you", said Nick with a friendly smile. Five minutes before end of duty, Lionel Kensington was in a good mood. "Sure," he said, "what's going on?" – "Ah, I would like to ask a little favor of you – I need a car. A limousine, to be precise, something fancy." Kensington sighed, "Wilde, you know the drill – ask chief Bogo, gimme the signed request form, then I'll give you all you need!"

Nick came closer, lowering his voice, "And that's the problem – let's say, I want the car off the record, no one need to know, for – we should call it 'undercover operation', okay?" Kensington frowned, "No can do. You know the rules and you know what Bogo would do with my ass when he finds out… sorry, pal, no way!" Nick smiled and started whispering, "And what would happen to your ass if Bogo finds out what you did last Sunday night in Meadowlands?" Kensington froze, his eyes wide, "But… how do you… you haven't…", he mumbled. Nick grinned, "It was a nice victory, I daresay, what had the winner got, help me here… five grand? I bet you have let Bogo signed this form regarding secondary income for police officials… oh, no!", he lifted his voice, "I forgot, these car races – aren't they illegal?" – "Shhhhh, pipe it down, you idiot!", Kensington looked around nervously, "How did you found out?" Nick grinned, "Do you still use the nitrogene carburator I sold you nine months ago?"

Kensington's eyes got wide, "You! That was you! I know when you first marched in here, that I'd seen that mangled fox before! Why, you little piece of…" – "Hey, hey, old pal, calm down, no need getting excited over that old story, won't we? Hey, we're both cops now! We're buddies! I won't say no word to none, I swear!" He put on his puppy dog face, as Judy liked to call it and sighed deeply, "… but, coming back to my undercover mission…"

They started exchanging words quickly, like in a poker game, "What do you need?" – "A limo" – "The Cadillac?" – "Nah, a bit more upper class!" – "The stretch? Forget about it!" – "No stretch limo, way to flashy – don't you have something in between?" – "Mercedes, D sized!" – "Which one?" – "500 SEL" – "AMG?" – "Of course!" – "21 inch wheels" – "23!" - "Cool. Color?" – "White!" – Nick hissed, making a grimace, "Ahh, white… but okay, I take it." Kensington laughed, "Wait, wait, wait… when do you need it?" – "Saturday, I'll take it a seven pm, bring it back at 9 am on sunday!" – "But I'm not on duty then!" – "You are, I already checked" – "Damn, you sly fox!", Nick nodded, "I hear that a lot – deal or no deal?" Kensington was silent, then he sighed, making a last attempt, "Wilde, listen – " – "Call me Nick!" – "Okay, Nick, you know perfectly well, Bogo will take both our balls if anything's happening to the baby and if someone sees you taking one of your vixen bitches out on a ride…" – "Hey, calm down, Lionel, what do you think of me?", Nick tried to look intimidated, "I better not say that aloud…" – "I told you, it is a kind of undercover ops here – and if you don't trust me, officer Hopps will be with me all the time!" The snow leopard stared at him in disbelief, "Hopps? The bunny? The Dacia hater? She's in that? Don't tell me she drives!" Nick tried to calm him down, "No, no, under us, she's a shit driver, I'll do all the driving, promised, but you know her, don't you, has she ever broke a single rule?" – "Hmmm, not that I know of!" – "See? Everything's green?" Lionel sighed again, then nodded his huge head, "Green!", he said, "Super green!", Nick replied, "I'll get the car on Saturday evening, and, oh, if it's not too much trouble, have it washed and waxed, there's a good lad!" He laughed, ran out of the door, ducked under the screwdriver thrown after him by the furious snow leopard and jumped in the car. "Easier than I thought!"

Nearly 48 hours later, Nick stood in his apartment that had been tidied up and completely cleaned by him in the last hours, as, who knows, this evening might as well end in here. His fur was washed, oiled, groomed and perfumed. His smartphone was connected to his stereo, the display showed an image of three zebras, two of them holding guitars, the third sitting at the drums. The logo above them spelled "ZZ-bra Top". Nick was looking in the mirrow arranging his bow tie. He was wearing a pitch black shirt with a white smoking, white shoes (feeling strange, as he was used to wear no shoes at all), and a white fedora hat with a black ribbon. He smiled and sang along: "They come runnin' just as fast as they can, cos ev'ry girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!"

He drove over to her apartment, always tempted to let the powerful engine flex his muscles, but a speeding ticket would be the last he wanted, so he behaved. It was exactly 7.30 when he knocked on her door. "Come in!", her voice sounded darker then usual. He opened the door. For the first time in his life he was completely speechless, he could just stand, stare, his eyes wide to let as much of the picture before him burn into his retina forever, his mouth open, catching breath.

She was robed in a long dress that shimmered like polished metal, the color changing in the light from dark purple to lapislazuli. Shoulders and arms were free, the front was deeply cut, her decollete emphasized with a small silver chain with a single little diamond resting in the cleavage above her breasts. Both sides of the dress were slitted, so he could see her thighs up to her hip. She started walking towards him. With every step, one of her legs was completely in the open. She had done something with her fur, it was glittering with millions of shiny drops. Her long ears had been treated with wetlook gel, her make-up was simple. She was looking like a goddess descending from another galaxy. She had reached him, and lifted one paw to close his open mouth. "Hey, gorgeous, why don't we spend the night together?", she whispered to him and offered her mouth. He kissed her and put his arms around her when he pulled his arms back like he got burned – he was feeling only naked fur! "Turn around!" he said hoarsely. Judy giggled, turning as slowly as possible. "Wow!", Nick just couldn't say more. The entire back of her was naked, from the little fabric that were under her arms a huge V was cut out down to her sexy cottontail.

"You're under arrest!", he finally said, "Oh, officer, what for?", she pleaded playfully, "Indecent Exposure", he grinned. When she half closed her eyes and whispered, "Oh, please, officer, punish me!", he picked her up and kissed her all over again. "You are sentenced to dinner", he smirked and offered her his arm. They walked down the stairs and for the first time Nick saw her indeed walking – not hopping, skipping, dancing, jumping or running, but she really put one foot in front of the other, one of them always touching ground – that was a first. "Oh my goodness, Nick, the car! Amazing! I better not ask where you got that from…" – "Yeah, you better not!" – "Can I drive?" – "In that dress? Forget it, honey bunny." – "Awww….", she pouted, but got in the passenger seat. "Next stop: The Giant Palmtree!" He started the engine. "Cool sound!", she said, "Oh and just for the records: you look awesome in that outfit – Indy meets James Bond!" – "I'll take that as a compliment"

They drove through the unusually empty streets, laughing, joking and flirting into a night to remember.

After stopping in front of the elegant entrance, Nick threw the key to the valet parking assistant, "Careful, please, no dents, no scratches – four balls are depending on this!" The young marder gave him a puzzled look, shrugged and got in the car. Judy looked bewildered, "What balls were you talking about?", Nick grinned, "Nothing, darling, just an insider". The reception desk was at the ground floor. An old goat in a fancy uniform awaited them. "Good evening Mr. Wilde, good evening Miss", she nodded to both of them. Nick, always taking in the smallest details, looked at the glasses of the old waitress. In the reflection, he could see what was on her desk: his reservation form had been printed out, someone had encircled the words "fox" and "rabbit" in red and wrote "Really?" behind it. Below said another scribbled remark: "Pls confirm!" Nick only needed one second to see all of this. The clerk smiled at him, "Sir, would you like to use the normal elevators, you would need to change three times to get on the top, or do you wish to go directly up in our panorama elevator?" Her horned head made the slightest move to a small sign standing on the desk: _For use of panorama elevator an extra fee of 20 $ will be charged to your check!"_ But he saw the longing look in Judy's eyes' "Yes, we'd like to use the panorama elevator!" As soon as they turned their backs on the goat, she took up the phone and dialed. Now she would confirm that a really unusual pair was approaching. Nick sighed silently and hoped that Judy hadn't noted that small episode.

He must admit, it was worth twenty bucks to ride at breathtaking speed up in the sky, complete Zootopia at their feet. Judy was in his arms, "This is so wonderful! I am so happy right now!". At the 255th floor, the doors opened and the Maitre d', an elegant badger welcomed them, "Bonsoir, Monsieur Wilde, bonsoir Mademoiselle", he bowed deeply before Judy, she stretched out her arm. The badger took her paw and kissed it gently, "May I say, you look splendid, Mademoiselle, très magnifique. You really belong to us up here, in the sky" – "Vous êtes charmant, monsieur, merci beaucoup!", Judy answered with a smile. Nick was amazed, he didn't know she spoke French. And all the rest, too, the way she walked, the way she looked, she acted like she was born a noble, not a carrot farmer.

The Maitre d' lead them to a table at a window, the entire table was elevated to suit Nick's size. Judy had a special chair that lifted her higher, so they could eat eye to eye. There was a foot rest for her comfort and even a small bench she could use to climb the chair. Expensive china, silver cutlery (Nick counted seven different knives and forks and five different kind of spoons – for each), fine crystal glasses, six for each of them, nice flowers and candeliers let you never forget that this here was not an ordinary restauraunt. An elegantly dressed springbok bowed and smiled at them. "Good evening, my name is Pierre and I will take care of you tonight", he said and gave them a menu – a green one for Judy, a red one for Nick. Nick had problems chosing a dish as he couldn't take his eyes from the sparkling young lady next to him. "How did you do that?", he pointed to her skin. She whispered, "It's a mousse containing nano prisms that reflect the light – I think I overdid it a little, but it looks so beautiful – but I bet it will be a mess to get it off later, I already made everything I touched in my apartment sparkling with that stuff!", she giggled. Nick smiled when his attention was drawn to a couple of old lions sitting behind Judy. The lioness looked in their direction and seemed to be upset about something. She had a silent, but energetic conversation with her husband. Nick hoped that these two wouldn't trouble them. He was glad that Judy didn't saw them.

Pierre came back and they ordered, Judy in perfect French, Nick tried his best to master the pronounciation, but he was not exactly sure what he had ordered. Both had ordered four courses. When asked about the wine, Nick's moment came. "Pierre, do you happen to have a bottle of 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti?" He had never seen a bottle of that stuff but had overheard a conversation between rich businessmen once. He had learned the name including correct pronounciation by heart and had impressed a lot of waitors at high-classed restaurants with that knowledge – and he knew the wine was rare, so up to now, no restaurant could give him a bottle of that. Up to know – Pierre bowed at Nick, "Monsieur, you are an excellent conaisseur of good vines. What a splendid choice! I will ask our Sommelier to decant a bottle at once!" Nick smiled, but his insides turned to jelly – he should have known that such an excuisite place had a bottle of that wine. Pierre bowed his antlered head close to Nick in a discrete manner and whispered: "Sir, I am awfully sorry to mention such minor details, but after some… misunderstandings, our house gave out strict rules regarding the ordering of certain wines. I am quite sure, you know perfectly well what you have just ordered, so please forgive my impertinence, I just follow the standard procedure here when I tell you that a bottle of this wine is 8.300 $. Please, sir, just for your consideration."

Nick looked at Judy like he didn't care at all, saying "Whatever…", but his mind raced. _He knows – and he knows that I know._ This Pierre guy has looked through him, but seemed to play along. _This guy had just earned himself a huge tip,_ he thought. "Then I will order the bottle?", Pierre asked friendly. "Yeah, why not… except… well, darling, it may be a bit strong for you, or not?" He saw Pierre's eyebrows rise when he called Judy "darling" and Judy looked shell-shocked, she had obviously heard the prize, no wonder with ears like hers. She gulped, saying "Yes… yes, maybe… I don't like this strong wine… oh, Pierre, do you have a milder wine?" – "Of course, madam, may I suggest a Meadowlands Grand Reserve from 2014 – that would match to both your meal choices, won't you agree, sir?" he turned again to Nick, "And it's only 55 $", he added in a muted voice. _Thanks, buddy!_ "Yeah, I think, we'll go with that one!", Nick said casually.

Food and wine both were amazing, they enjoyed every little detail of the wonderful evening. When they waited for their desserts, however, Judy's expression changed. "Nick, we need to talk", she started, and Nick knew that there was bad weather coming up. Judy sighed. "I did a lot of thinking these last days. About… us. I mean… us two being together. Of all the things that will happen, when… when we take this one step further, when we will be more than just friends. Being difference species is hard enough, but pred and prey… you know that there will be a lot of talk… and more. Some people just can't stand the idea of two animals like us… being together. My parents, for starters. Our colleagues… neighbors, landlady, name it. I have never met someone like you in my life…" – "Me neither", Nick said calmly and took her paws in his. She let him, but her face remained dark. And Nick saw that that little gesture provoked a reaction of the old lioness, who look scandalized and was now furiously talking to the male lion, who turned around to him. Judy, however, continued.

"I don't know what problems we would face, if we go on, but I know they will get huge. Some animals will avoid us, some will hate us and I don't know where my parents will stand. I have made a decision, and it took me long and I don't took it easy, but…" She paused and looked out of the window, close to tears. Nick had stopped breathing some time ago, a pain he never felt before building up in his body. No, Judy, he wanted to yell, but his mouth was dry like sand paper. When she turned her head back to him, his heart missed a beat. Earlier he said that she looked like a goddess, but now her face was hard like granite, her eyes two purple gemstones, she looked so furious, like a goddess of revenge ready to destroy the world with throwing thunderbolts. She pressed his paws hard, a single tear running from her eye, her lips drawn back, baring her teeth, "I decided that I'll give a shit!"

Nick gulped, didn't knowing what would follow now. Judy spoke low and slowly but her voice carried, charging the air between them with pure electricity. "Let them hate us! Let them avoid us, I don't care! When they don't understand – their problem! I don't want to go through all that pred/prey prejudice shit again like we did during the Savage case! I want to be with you as I love you with all my heart and if this is the mistake of my life, then be it! At least, I will have made this mistake myself! I am so sick of all of them telling me what is possible and what not, I fought my entire life against 'a bunny can't do this, a bunny can't do that' and now 'a bunny can't love a fox' – well, just put it on my list, it is long enough already. I'll prove them all wrong in this as I have done in all the others! And my parents will, too. They didn't like what I did but they supported me as much as they were able to, I'm sure I can convince them… even though I do not look forward to that talk, believe me. Man, am I glad I have spat that out!" She wiped the tears from her face cautiously. "Carrots, you nearly gave me a heart attack here, I thought you wanted to break up!", he scolded her, "And I had the same thoughts, of course, and I thought a lot about us, too. I never met an animal like you in my life and – how did you put it? – I give a shit you are a bunny, I love you more than I ever loved anyone or anything, you made my life a life. With you I am strong enough to overcome anything in our way!"

Judy just nodded, fighting against more tears to come, when they heard Pierre's voice, "May I serve your dessert?" – "Of course," Nick replied, letting go of Judy's paws. He was sure that the waiter had tried to bring their desserts before but had been sensitive enough to not disturb their conversation. Now, with his mind free again he saw new trouble ahead. The lion was talking to the maitre d'. If the looks from his wife could kill, Judy would be a goner. The badger held both paws up, trying to keep the voices down. "Excuse me for a second, will you?", he stood up and went to the restroom, but instead of using one of the cabins, he pressed his ear against the door as he heard the badger call for Pierre. He did not get all of their conversation, but he heard Pierre's excited voice "… but, sir, they did nothing wrong, they were just eating…" – "… what behaviour… with a fox… Mrs von Maienfeld is so upset, we… get them out of here…" – "… we can't do that… just because that old hag…" – "Pierre,", the badger was getting loud now, "if you want to keep your job, get them out! Mrs von Maienfeld may be an old hag but she and her husband are coming weekly and I don't want to…"

Nick had heard enough. He caughed loudly, then opened the door slowly to give them time to face him. Pierre looked upset and angry, the badger had composed himself and faced him professionally, "Mr Wilde, a word please!", Nick gave him a friendly smile, no problem with covering up his rage, "Of course, is there a problem?" – "As a matter of fact there is, sir. Some of our guests… how to put it… they did not like the attitude of you and the young miss." Nick pretended to look astonished, "Really? There must be a misunderstanding as the only thing we'd do was enjoying our meals – which had been excellent, by the way, compliment to the chef!" The badger cleared his throat, "Thanks a lot, sir, but you did more. You had been seen… as least that was what they told me… you were observed holding paws with that bunny. We can not allow an indecent behaviour like this in front of our… normal guests." – "But sir", the young springbok intervened, "how can you…" – "Silence, Pierre, or you are fired at once!"

Never in his life, Nick had been so in rage. He wanted to grab that little prick in his fine suit and rip him to pieces and then storm the restaurant and attack those two lions with teeth and claws. And that would have been what happened, if Judy had not said the things she said just two minutes ago and had so planted a huge happiness directly in his heart. He needed not half a second to overcome his feelings and as he saw the face of the furious springbok, ready to quit his job (in fact, Pierre was already opening his dinner jacket), he knew what to do – he laughed. Both badger and springbok froze and gawked at him. "My dear gentleman, no one will be fired or quit his job – there is a huge misunderstanding going on and I am happy to resolve it." Now the two were looking at each other with puzzled faces. Nick flashed his badge, "I am officer Nick Wilde, ZPD, and that extremely beautiful young lady at my table is officer Judy Hopps – you may heard of her in the news lately, she is quite famous in the ZPD. We are here in…", he stopped and pretended to look around to check if no one was eavesdropping, "… in an undercover mission! Some of your guests, I won't say any names, are not so high society as you may think!" The badger looked confused, "But… but you can't mean the von Maienfelds… that old family…" – "I won't give any names as inquiries are still going on…", he said sighing. He put his two paws on the shoulders of the two, "I am so glad, you spoke to me openly, so we could avoid any… disturbances and get rid of that funny misunderstanding!"

But the badger was not pleased, yet, "But sir, what will we do with the von Maienfelds? They were insisting on consequences!" – "Oh, I would let Pierre take care of it. I am sure you know, he is an excellent waiter and will handle this… awkward situation with the utmost diplomacy!" – "Yes… yes, okay, as you wish, monsieur. Pierre – handle this!" The badger turned around and Pierre gave Nick a reliefed look, "Are you two really cops?", he whispered, "Yeah", Nick replied and Pierre asked on, "But that undercover mission bullshit…" – "Bullshit!", Nick nodded. "Thanks… for saving my job over there!" – "Thank you too, for saving my bank account from paying that wine!" The two exchanged a smile. "And you two are really… I mean…", Nick nodded again, "Congrats, man", Pierre said, "I wish you all the luck, I think you're a perfect match, no matter what!" Before Nick could answer, he was gone. Nick sat down while Judy was munching her dessert. Nick focused his ears on the conversation at the next table. "… we would offer you a seat at the upper floor and all drinks free…", he heard Pierre explain. The lioness, however, seemed not to be pleased with the bargain, "Why should _we_ move? I like this table and will certainly not…", she lowered her voice again, but Pierre bowed, saying, "As you wish, madame, in this case I will offer _them_ the superior table in our VIP area…" The lioness looked shocked, "No, wait… Maybe we…" A short time later three more waiters appeared and started clearing the lion's table bringing everything up the stairs. Pierre was guiding the von Maienfelds up. All the commotion had made Judy turn around, "I wonder what's going on there…", she emptied her glass, "Oh, I think I overheard that old lion complaining while I was at the restroom… something about draft air, or something…" – "Whatever…", she said, the look in her eyes was promising, "I'd like to go now, Nick!"

He payed a bit over five hundred bucks by credit card and checked his wallet – he had sixty dollars in cash. That would hurt later this month, but he pressed all of that in Pierre's hoof, who put it quickly in his pocket without looking.

 _Next chapter: It's getting hot in here! What you've all been waiting for! So stay tuned._


	7. Chapter 7 - The Lady and the Fox

**Chapter 7 – The Lady and the Fox**

The powerful car roared through the nearly empty streets. Nick was relieved everything went well in the end and Judy was so excited she couldn't sit still. "Oh, Nick, that was so woderful! The restaurant, the food, the view – and I loved our waiter, hope you tipped him well!" Nick laughed, "Yeah, he was awesome, don't worry, he got off quite okay."

"Was it… very expensive?", she asked shyly, "I feel a bit bad to let you pay all of this…" – "Don't worry, honey bunny, I will make it 'til next paycheck!" At least, he hoped he would. She looked at him, all excited, "So, what will we do now?" – "What do you think of hanging out at my place?" She gave him a wide grin, "Sounds great. I've never been in a messy bachelor's burrow!" – "Hey, I cleaned up!"

When he stopped in front of what looked like a big factory hall in the middle of an industrial area she looked surprised, "You live… here?" – "Yeah, it isn't much from here, but you'll love it when you're inside!" – "Well, I hope so…"

A gang of motor cyclists, all young wolves, stood some twenty meters away, bottles in their paws. When they saw Judy getting out the car, one of them wolf-whistled. Judy turned away quickly, but when they saw her scantily clad back side, they yelled even more, "Hey, bunny! Ditch ginger and com' o'er here! I just ate but you'd mad'a nice dessert!", he pronounced it "desert" Judy turned around, "Sit, wolfie! Your mum just called, it's time for beddy-bye!" The smile ran away from his face as his buddies started a roaring laughter, "She's too much for you!" one of them guffawed, "Tha'one would eat you alive!"

Nick lead her quickly inside and closed the door before the wolves could get any ideas. It was pitch black inside, some small green emergency lights were leading up a small staircase. Lots of doors where on each side. Nick opened one of them with his key. He lead her in and pressed a switch, "Welcome in Casa del Wilde", he whispered in her ear. A series of small lamps illuminated a large living room, one wall was covered with an enourmous flat screen, a huge sofa on the opposite wall. A table with four different chairs, a large fridge and some mismatched cupboards and closets completed the room. Judy walked around and discovered behind a separating wall a kitchen with expensive looking hardware and even a dishwasher. "Something to drink?" he asked, "Yeah, water – I already had too much of that delicious wine!" She smiled when she saw that the collection of glasses in his kitchen were all mismatched, too. "Is there no window in here?", she asked, "No. This is still my old apartment… from the pre-police era, as you might call it. So, it's more like a hideout." – "A very luxurious hideout, I must say!" Nick sighed, "Yeah, in that times I earned a little more…" – "I remember, 200 bucks a day, every day, since you were twelve!", she grinned. He nodded, "Sometimes more, sometimes less – but police life has its priveliges, having the cutest bunny in the world as a partner…", he grabbed her, lifted her up and started kissing her. After some hot minutes of tongue wrestling, she managed to escape his firm grip. "By the way, you are the only non-bunny who is allowed to call me cute, you know?" she said smiling. "If you say so," he answered, "What do you want to do next?"

She smiled, giving him a long "Hmmmm…", then she jumped up, "First of all, I need to use your bathroom." – "Of course, the door over there" When she walked over, Nick started to walk towards the cupboard to get some candles for romantic mood, but as soon as she was inside the bathroom, his blood froze as she yelled, "Oh my god, what the heck is THIS?" Damn, had he forgotten to hide his dirty laundry? No, he had checked the bathroom before he left, he had even closed the toilet lid. In panic, he ran to the bathroom door, when she opened it, coming out, her eyes so wide he was afraid they would pop out of her skull. "That bathroom is bigger then my entire apartment and there's a fucking swimming pool inside it!" He was relieved and smiled at her shocked face, "For animals of my size it's called a jacuzzi. Complete with fancy lighting, bubbles, massage function and, oh, a waterproof TV set – but it's only a very small screen, 21 inch or so…" – "Small? You are kidding me! I don't even have no tub nor TV set in my room and you have a TV _in_ your tub and that one over there… what is it, 50 inch?" – "53", he answered calmly. "I can't believe it!" She came to him, embraced him slowly and kissed his nose. Then she put her head on his shoulders and whispered in his ear: "I would like to have a bath, sweetheart… with you."

He carried her in the bathroom, turned on the taps of the jacuzzi, their lips still locked together, his hands patting her back to find a way to get rid of her dress. "Under the left arm, dear…", she helped him. He had already wondered how a back free, shoulder free dress stayed up but now he found the small grey cord connecting the two sides under her arms, completely invisible inside her grey fur. He managed to open the clip and with a whooshing sound the dress fell to the floor. She started to unbutton his shirt, while he took a look down. "Wow, a string tanga!" She looked a bit embarrassed, "Yes, it was the only one I could wear under this dress, it's so low cut… all my other panties would have peeped out…, oh, yours is sexy, too!", she laughed looking at his boxers.

Nick gulped. He suddenly was embarrassed. He was no virgin, he'd had some three or four girlfriends in his life, but he never had felt like this before. She was so different, he had never seen such a beautiful girl before – those vixens he dated had been nice, okay, and yes, he had consumed some porn (mostly featuring felines; he couldn't remember if he'd ever seen a lapine porn on the shelf, but he bet you could find some on the internet – rule 34 applied here, too), but Judy was so self-confident and so damn sexy. She had told him she was a virgin, so he had thought she would act like one, but she was about to seduce him like a real pro – and that turned him on a lot. Without any hesitation she pulled down his boxers, than got out of her string in a most elegant way. As the jucuzzi was quite high for her, he lifted her inside. "Uh, it's hot!", she hissed, "Yes, you are… I mean, it is!", he said. They sat down one on each side facing each other. She had to sit straight up to keep her face above the water, he slouched down until their faces were leveled. She sighed happily, "That is life!" She smiled at him, "Nick, dear?" – "Yes, carrots?" – "Get your foot away from there!", she whispered smiling. "From where?" – "From THERE!" - "Oh, sorry, my bad!" He moved his leg, "Nick?" – "Yes?" – "The other foot!" – "Oops." She shook her head, "Sly fox!" – "Lovely bunny!", he answered. She stood up and waded over to him, she really could swim in the tub that could easily seat four fox sized animals. She sat down on his lap and they started kissing. There was no way he could hide that huge erection now, and when her paws glided down his chest, he started panting heavily. When she made contact, her eyes grew wide, she stopped kissing him and looked down, "That can't be…" She looked down and breathed out loudly, "Houston, we have a problem!" She stared at him unbelieving, "Nick, do all foxes have such a huge… I mean…" – "How should I know?", he grinned, "We don't run around pulling down our pants and compare them!" She kissed him, "I'm sorry, I just was… surprised… I never saw such a big… okay, I must admit, I never saw _any_ … I mean, except for those of my brothers and they didn't count… Oh, man, that's gonna hurt… a lot…"

Nick took her in his arms and said, "Carrots, we don't need to do it if you are afraid… ouch!" She had grabbed his head and pressed it forcefully against the tiled wall. She looked him directly in the eyes, determined, "Listen, fox, we may not _need_ to, but I _want_ to, and baby, when it's love, if it's not rough it isn't fun!" – "Sometimes you scare me", he admitted panting as she had started stroking his pulsating member with both paws. Her face showed a very nasty, evil grin, when suddenly she inhaled and put her head under water and attacked him with lips, teeth and tongue. Oh, that was so wonderful, Nick's entire body cramped together as he had never experienced anything similar in his life. When he was just about to explode, she shot out of the water, gasping, "Sorry… need to breathe… okay, back!" She went down again and went on, but Nick was not able to hold back and ejaculated in one, two, three, four splurts, before he fell together like a tent without poles. She came back up, smirking. "That was tasty… you liked it?" He was not able to answer, instead he grabbed her pressed her body against his and started covering her with kisses.

He stood up, lifted her out and carried her over to his bed. He threw her on and climbed on top of her, both soaking wet. "We'll ruin your sheets…", she protested, but Nick couldn't' care less. He run his paws up her thighs and started working on her labia when she kicked him hard in the chest. "Ooof!", he looked at her in surprise and her angry face scared him, "Stop that, I'm not in grade school anymore. I want your tongue in there and you better work hard!" He did what she had asked for. Hor private parts were so tiny, the smell and taste of her juices were pungent and so different from anything he had experienced before but he loved it and after some minutes she started screaming and kicking when she came, her whole body became hard like concrete, her teeth gritting, her eyes so wild, he never expected that such a cute little prey could look so terrifying. When she finally relaxed and caught her breath, she caressed him with her soft paws. "Oh, my darling, that was so good, I love you so much… I just hope no one had heard us!", she giggled, "Don't worry, carrots, this building has been abandoned years ago. I am the only one living here" She grabbed him and pulled him over her body like a blanket. "Okay, and now for the main event, my handsome fox… and I don't care if it'll hurt, I want you to do it hard quick, no matter how loud I scream!", she said, that terrifying grin back on her face. "Okay, carrots, as you wish!"

He pushed her hard in the soaking wet sheet, attacking her furiously, bending her legs upward with brute force. She hissed and when he hesitated, she yelled at him, "Go on, don't you dare stop now!" So he took his rock hard, pulsating cock, put the tip in the little crack between her labia and rammed it in as hard as he could. She started screeching so loud, that Nick thought, his head would explode. She was so tight and it felt so good even though it was hurting him a lot, too. Judy, on the other hand, had never thought that a pain so extreme could cause her so much pleasure. When she had been younger, she had sometimes used very inappropriate and oversized items for masturbation, to the point she had hurt herself and that had always given her a strange, satisfying feeling. She knew she was strange and maybe that was just another part of her personality. She'd always liked to do things that had been out of bounds for bunnies and she never cared. She never talked about her love of pain to anyone, not even her favourite sister Fay. Fay was the sweetest, kindest soul on earth and would have been shocked to death, at least that was what Judy believed. But now, being filled by Nick so tightly that she could feel every throb of his oversized cock as a wave of pain, she reached a new all-time high, she climaxed so hard, she thought he body would simply dissolve in small fragments. She noticed him cumming, too and they just went on and on, no pause, until a second wave of lust raced over them and left them sore and tired in the wet wreck of what had once been Nick's bed.

"Wow," she wasn't able to say more than that. "Are we still alive?", he said hoarsely, "I can't feel my body anymore." – "Oh, you will tomorrow and me, too, believe it", she giggled and pressed her face in his wet chest fur. It didn't take 'til tomorrow, the pain came only half an hour later, Judy told him, she'd had to go to the bathroom and he switched on the lights. "Oh my god!", his face went pale when he saw the blood everywhere on the sheets. Judy felt nauseated, too, but played tough, "It's okay, it was my first time so I've expected that…" – "Liar!", he said. She ran in the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Man, that hurt! After flushing three times, she slowly stood up, took a longing look at the still filled jacuzzi but this would become a red mess, so she entered the shower and turned it to ice cold.

When Nick opened the door and went pale again when seeing the dark red water-blood mix vanishing in the drain, she hummed the "Psycho" theme. "That's not funny", he said, "I didn't want to hurt you so bad…" She silenced him with a kiss, "It will be over soon, and I will get used to it… as we will definitely repeat this!" He sighed, "Yes, but not today and not tomorrow!" – "Yeah, that would be better", she admitted.

When she came out of the bath rubbing herself dry with one of Nick's fluffy towels, she saw that he had made the bed. The other covers and sheets he had stuffed in two large trash bags. "It felt like cleaning up a crime scene", he mumbled. "Many people would consider what we just did a crime, make no mistake about it!", she sighed. The bleeding had finally stopped and Judy had put on her slip with a provisional panty liner made of toilet paper. They both went to bed. She kissed him, whispering in his ear, "Thank you for the very best day of my life so far!" – "No, I have to thank you for that!", he replied. Judy was so excited that she thought she couldn't possibly find any sleep this night, but only ten minutes later the only sound that could be heard in the dark apartment were the two lovers breathing slowly in their deep, dreamless, exhausted sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Calm before the Storm

**Chapter 8 – The Calm before the Storm**

When Nick woke up, Judy was still sound asleep, so he sneaked out, brought back the Mercedes in time and bought breakfast on his way back. When he opened the door, he found Judy awake. She had laid the table wearing one of his T-shirts that went down to her knees – she looked gorgeous. They kissed and she asked where he'd been. "I bought us some breakfast!", he smiled and showed her the bag. She sighed, "Great, bagels and donuts! After that four course meal yesterday! Keep on doing this and I'll look like Clawhauser in a month or two. I wanted to make us some coffee but I couldn't get your fancy machine to work, it has more buttons than the bridge of the Enterprise!"

He made coffee for both of them and they sat down for breakfast. Nick didn't eat much as he was busy watching Judy who looked sexy as hell in his overlarge T-shirt, stretching, yawning, slurping her coffee, munching donuts and wiping the crumbs from her chin fur. However, he noticed that she was in a serious mood. "We must decide how we are going to handle this!", she replied when he asked what was the matter. "I mean – our relationship. Different species being together is still a taboo. People have getting used to lesbian and gay marriages in the last years, since they passed the Homosexual Marriage Law, but still… a pred/prey couple in Zootopia? I found nothing on the net (except porn, of course), not even among the celebrities who did all kind of weird stuff." – "Maybe you are taking this too seriously…", Nick intervened, "… some years ago, no one would have bet a penny on a bunny cop – or a fox cop as well. And since that Savage case, the relationship between preds and prey have improved, haven't they?" Judy shook her head, "But Nick, the Savage case has proved that one single spark was enough to let all the old prejudices come up again. Bellweather might have been mad, but she was right about one thing: Fear always works!"

Reluctantly, she told him about the incident in the butchery. "And don't you tell me, this was just bad luck!", she ended. "No, it wasn't.", his face gotten serious, too, as he told her the truth about was had happened yesterday in the restaurant – from the scribbled word "Really?" on their reservation to the complaint of the von Maienfelds and the reactions of the Maitre d' and Pierre. "I am sorry I spoiled your memory of this evening", he concluded. "No, you haven't. It was great, and this will always be a special night for me – not only because we… you know what…" – "Fucked?", Nick grinned and had to duck under a low flying bagel. "Nick, you… arse! I bet there would have been a much more charming way to talk about the first night with your girlfriend…" But when they stopped laughing, her serious face came back, "Truth is, both our dates would have not been successful without our badges. That can't be. I'm so pissed! Why do people care anyway? We are not hurting anyone… But we are talking beside the point here. What will we do and who do we tell?" Nick laughed sarcastically, "Tell? I won't tell no one nothing. We'll keep it secret, act normal during duty and what we do at home is no one's business. There is no law against it, so it's not illegal." – "Yeah, but maybe my parents…" – "Your parents? You mean the parents that gave you a bottle of fox repellant before you'd moved to Zootopia? Really?" Judy sighed and was glad he hadn't told Nick of the Fox Taser her dad had offered her. "But I'll feel bad if I hide such a thing before them…" – "Carrots, you'll feel even worse when they break up with you and never talk to you again!" – "But Nick, parents don't do that…" He banged his fist on the table, angry, "Oh yeah? Well, my dad did!"

Judy looked at him shocked, hurt and said nothing. Nick sighed and hid his head in his paws, "Sorry, carrots, I shouldn't have yelled at you… I never told you that, but my father kicked me out after we had a quarrel about my way of life and I had to get along on my own… when I was just twelve!" – "Oh, Nick, that's…" but Nick waved her off, "I know, I know, but I'm not in the mood for sob stories now… I learned to get along the hard way, but here I am now, a respected member of the community. Do you remember these ridiculous pre-printed post cards they handed out in police academy before the final exams?" Judy nodded, "You mean the invitations you could send to friends and relatives to invite them to the graduation ceremony?" – "Yeah, those things. I threw them in the bin as I had no friends, but picked one out again and sent it to the last known address of him… thought, maybe he would come… being a police officer was more what he had expected for me… but he didn't came and he hadn't responded, so I think he's either dead or doesn't want to see me again."

They both stayed silent. Judy didn't knew what she could say to him. His face was still angry but sad as well. "I just… I don't want to lie to my parents…" Nick snorted, "You don't need to!" When she looked at him puzzled, he grinned, "As a con artist you should never lie. Lies make everything complicated. You have to remember all of them and one day the building of lies will collapse over your head. Leave something out here, exaggerate a bit there – that's okay." – "You mean like selling red wood as redwood?", she smiled. "Yeah, exactly, honey bunny!"

She asked him to take her home as she couldn't walk outside in the T-shirt of him nor in the fancy dress that looked strange in broad daylight. "Thanks for everything!" she whispered in his ear after she kissed him goodbye, not before taking a nervous look around to make sure no one was watching. "See ya at 5.30 tomorrow?" – "As usual!", he smiled back.

She ran quickly in her apartment, got out of the dress into more casual clothes. She had her phone switched off yesterday and when she turned it on again the display flashed "16 missed calls" – all from her parents. She couldn't even delete them before her phone started to chime and the picture of her parents appeared on the screen. She pressed the green button. "Hi mom, hi dad", she said. "Judy, dear, we have called a hundred times, where have you been?", her mother said, "16 times", she replied calmly, "and good morning to you, too". The voice of her father yelled "Good morning? It's 12:30! Hey, Jude, the dude, what happened, your mom got worried sick…"

Judy tried to sound as casual as possible, "Oh, nothing, I just had dinner last night at a restaurant… and I was very tired, so I turned the phone off and slept in…" – "Oh!", her mom said, "You were on a date?", she sounded happily, "Mom, please, I'd said nothing about a date… I just had dinner… and I met a colleague of mine, so we shared a table." _No lies up to here_ "Then he drove me home" _To his home… just leaving out some minor details, still no lying._ "… and I was exhausted" _Oh, yeah, definetely the truth, after having two hours of sex_ , "… and I went to bed." _With him._ "Oh, of course, I always say you are working too much, dear. I am just glad you're okay. We will speak tonight?" – "Of course, mom, I'll call before I go to bed. Bye mom, bye dad, love you two!" Nick was right. Lies were not necessary when you know what your counterpart wanted to hear. So why did she feel so bad anyway?

The week was full of hard patrol work and disappointments. They were no closer to catch those car thieves than the week before, more cars had been stolen and still not a single clue. Chief Bogo's yelling got louder and louder and Nick and Judy spent every single minute of duty on the streets while the paperwork got stacked in their office and didn't had a single date nor a night together. On Monday, when Judy asked Nick for the umpteenth time to stop for a restroom break and Nick complained, she'd yelled at him, "It's your fault, you ripped me up so well I'm bleeding like hell!" Nick had been shocked, she'd apologized, but they didn't even risked a kiss on duty. Wednesday night they spent together in Nick's apartment, but both fell asleep so quickly as soon as they'd hit the mattrass, that they couldn't even say who'd fell asleep first. Judy pretended to be disappointed about them having no sex, but secretly she was glad even though Wednesday was the first day without bleeding, but she still felt sore down there. On Thursday they changed into night shift so they spent three nights in a row in an unmarked car in different areas of Zootopia to find the culprits, but with no success at all. Monday was their day off, they spent it separated, sleeping and doing basic house chores. They had promised each other that next week would get better, but Monday evening Judy had got a bad headache and when she was sitting in front of a huge plate of spinach filled ravioli, one of her favourites, she just looked disgusted and trashed the meal untouched. She informed her parents and Nick via text message that she would go to bed early. A long night's sleep would improve her situation she thought, but, man, she was so wrong about that, as she didn't know about the fuse that had been lit inside her body and how huge the bomb was it was slowly burning to.


	9. Chapter 9 - In the Heat

**Chapter 9 – In the Heat**

[WARNING: As I received numerous mails that Chapter 7 was not satisfying enough for you lemon-lovers, I'll add this episode here, but this is hardcore and will definetely be the last chapter where I describe mating in detail. Folks, I want to get on with a story and don't want to write a porn novel here. Nick and Judy won't solve their case lying in bed all the time. So enjoy this chapter, but then, that's it, okay? For those who _don't_ like stuff like this and are easily shocked, you may just skip this chapter, you won't miss anything important. For all the others: You have been warned!]

Judy was dreaming…

 _She runs through a dark tunnel, made of earth. She has to run on all fours, so low is the , she stands outside, it is dark and wind is blowing her fur. She realizes that she is naked. Something was strange… she continues on all fours and when she looks at her front paws, they have no thumb. She starts nibbling on grass as if this is the most normal thing in the world. CRACK! The sound behind her makes her jump and she starts running on all fours at an enormous speed. For some reasons she doesn't run in a straight line but throws her body to the left and right, doing sharp turns. She feels him behind her, big, dangerous, hungry, getting closer with every step. She does two sharp turns to get behind him, he is irritated and that increases the distance between them shortly. And this way, she is able to take a look at him. A huge red fox (Nick), the stench of him causes panic, makes her run faster. But fear was not the only thing fueling her. Also lust… this was a game and she was the prize, she wants him to win her, to have her, to take her… He makes yapping, yelping sounds, noticing he is coming closer… She tries another quick direction change, but he is too close, his head bumping in her back. She somersaults, gets on her feet again and continues running, but it is too late, this has cost too much time. His (Nick's) paw lands on her back, presses her down to earth. She sees his face, that handsome, lovely face she has kissed so often, but his expression now is full of hate, full of lust, full of hunger – no comparison to when he has pretended to be infected with the savage serum – this is real. His jaws close around her neck like they did in the museum before, but this time the pain Judy feels was real and lethal. A loud crack when her spine breaks, then nothing…_

 _She is watching now from above her limp body, she sees herself lying on her back, her purple eyes stare blankly into the moonlit night, seeing nothing. When he (Nick) notices her being dead, he takes her body and shakes it around, he grabs her hind leg, tearing, twisting, causing nauseating cracking sounds, until he finally, with a satisfied grunt, rips her leg off. A bright white bone splinter looks out of her teared flesh while he starts gnawing at her severed leg. When he was done, his claws cut in her belly, tearing, cutting, his muzzle snapping, pulling out her entrails, feasting on her inner organs, blood everywhere and she has to watch helplessly from above and all she can do was…_

screaming and trashing around until she fell out of the bed, in panic as he was still holding her tight, she couldn't move until she hit her head hard on her nightcase, sending the alarm clock down. She was finally awake, realizing that she was caught in a mess of sheets and covers. "Uuuuuhhh…" The pain in her head was even worse than yesterday, her peejays were dripping wet with sweat. The pictures of her dream still fresh in memory, she retched, ripped her sheets off, ran in the bath, fell down in front of the toilet and vomited explosively. Two minutes she laid there, her body convulsing in painful cramps until everything was out of her stomach. Her teeth clattered, she pressed her head against the cold tiles. She stood up slowly, flushed three times but the bad smell stayed in the bath. On shaking legs she walked back to her bed. She took the alarm clock from the floor and wanted to put it back on her nightcase when she realized the display. "Oh, shit!" 5:27 am. She hadn't heard the alarm. Nick would be here any minute! Nick… the fox. Her drowsy head showed her pictures from her dream, her nightmare. Nick, the predator, hunting for her, chasing her, taking her, caressing her with sharp claws, biting her, entering her… she shook her head violantly and jumped up. What the hell was wrong with her? She was late, had to hurry but instead was sitting there having x-rated daydreams about that stupid fox. _Shower. Dress. Get ready. Hurry. Concentrate._ Okay, one step after the other. She pulled down her pyjama pants, but as soon as she did that a sharp smell reached her nose, nearly making her puke again. "Ewww… what the fuck…?" A slimy, transparent goo filled her pants, smelling disgusting. She pulled her pants up quickly and ran into the shower, turning it on. The ice cold water soaked her pyjama and for the moment she felt much better. She ripped off the wet clothes and grabbed a cloth to wash that goo between her legs off. But as soon as her paw touched herself, her legs gave in and she started panting like she had just absolved a marathon. Shivers run through her body, her teeth gritted.

It took her thirty seconds til her body had coped with the powerful orgasm that came out of nowhere. She felt numb from the ice cold water pouring down on her. She closed the tap, stepped in front of her small bathroom mirror and watched herself in disbelief. Her fur was soaked, dripping all over the floor, her eyes bloodshot and wide. "What is wrong with me? It almost feels like…", she stopped in shock, her eyes pure panic now. "No, no, nononononono…", she ran to the small table, grabbed her phone, her shaking paws needed three attempts to find the calender. Today was the 22nd. She looked back up and found a small red X at the 19th. "Oh, fuck!", she yelled, "I'm dead." She had forgotten to take her pill and as a result, powerful hormons had taken control of her body.

Evolution was a bitch. It had given bunnies intelligence, civilization, opposed thumbs, the ability to walk erect, literature, science and whatever, but the good old standard mating program still run in the glands of each female bunny. "Bunnies are good at multiplying", she had once told Nick and the pun was intended. Procreation was extremely important for bunnies. They could mate all year, but evolution had made sure that no doe could sneak herself out on that duty. Herefore, roughly three times a year, every doe gets in mating mode or as most teenage bunnies called it, they "get in the heat". Judy was twelve when she got it for the first time, but it hadn't been nearly that strong. Lyra, her best friend at grammar school had just grinned and said "Take it easy, enjoy it, four to five days and it will be over!" – "What will happen to me?", she had asked her. "Oh, your panties will get soaked, you will be horny like hell, your smell will attract every buck in the neighborhood and you will want to fuck everything that is not up on the roof on the count of three!" She had stayed at home until it was over, then went directly to the doctor. For a bunny in modern times, especially living together with other species, there was of course an alternative – a single pill taken on the first day of the mating cycle (Judy's was 129 days) and everything was fine. The hormons in there mimicked a pregnancy and being pregnant was the only way the mating mode was skipped for obvious reasons.

Judy's pill had been due three days ago. To take it one day later would have been no problem, but now the biological time bomb in her had already exploded and it made no sense to take the pill now, it was too late. Now she had only two choices: either wait two or three days, seeing no one, enduring the pain or – mating. Nick… he would be here any second and then they could… no, they couldn't, she was a police officer for crying out loud, she needed to go on patrol. _Fight it!_

When it knocked on her door, she jumped. "Hey, carrots, are you ready for…" – "No!", she yelled, "No, get out!" Nick sounded confused, "I'm not even in yet" – "I meant, get down in the car and wait! I'll be there in a second, I… I overslept, okay?" It was silent outside, then he said "Okay, I'm waiting down there. Are you okay, cotton tail?", "Yes, yes, I am, just give me two minutes…" His voice made her head vibrate and she saw herself, licking his huge, long shaft, her face splattered with… _Stop it! Move!_ Her discipline helped her. She got back in the bath, dressed herself in white T-shirt, panty, then the uniform, body armour, belt, gun, and, important, shades. She sprayed herself head to foot with deodorant and perfume, hoping that would cover the smell that already started again, only five minutes after her shower. "That's gonna be a long day…", she sighed.

Nick waited until Judy came running down the stairs, jumping in the passenger seat. "Morning… sorry…", she panted. Nick got the feeling that it would not be a good idea to ask her for a kiss, so he stayed silent. She wore shades, unusual for her, the sun was barely up. She had been a bit too generous with her perfume, he thought. She sat rigidly, staring out of her window, saying nothing. She is tired, he told himself, and disappointed because we still have no clue on the auto thieves.

Why must today be the hottest day of the year? Judy noticed sweat running down her neck while she stared out of the window counting lamp posts, letter boxes, cars, people, everything just to keep these dirty, naughty pictures of her and Nick out of her mind. Thanks to Nick's reckless driving they arrived in time and Judy passed Clawhauser's desk without even saying hello. "Don't take it personal, Benji", said Nick grabbing a donut, "She's just a little off today" Clawhauser sighed, looking after her, "Still, she's so darn…" – "Hey, don't say the c-word!", interrupted Nick laughing, then ran after her. They managed to get their usual chair up front but when Judy tried to put as much distance between her and Nick's thighs she was sabotaged by Kitty MacMahon, who jumped on the same chair pressing her curvy model figure against Judy's leg. "Sorry, Judy, dear, but all other chairs are taken and I rather get cosy with you than with those other brutes…", she disregarded Judy's frown and looked over her head to Nick to exchange her standard greetings, "Hey, Foxy Loxy!", "Hey, Pretty Kitty", he responded as every morning. Kitty swished her long tail around Judy's shoulders, "Babe, I envy you having this handsome fellow for a partner! Look at that rhino…", she was babbling on, but Judy was thinking _Shut up, shut up, shut up, stupid bitch, why can't you just shut up!_ Nick's wonderful smell mixed with Kitty's causing her to have really dirty fantasies about a threesome… _No, no, no, stop it!_ She looked down just to see the tabby cat's long legs, she was wearing short pants today and Judy's paw wanted to carress those slim legs, she wanted her tongue going in between… she was saved by the call "Atten-hut!" when chief Bogo entered the room.

The mighty water buffalo looked around grimly. When his eyes met Kitty's, she gave him her 24 carat smile and he bellowed, "Stop grinning, MacMahon, we're not in the circus!". She punted, but Bogo had already found his next victim, "Hopps, no shades in the bull pen!" She took them off and Bogo put on his glasses to look in her bloodshot eyes, "Put' em back on, Hopps!", he ordered her and snickering could be heard throughout the bull pen. "Silence!", he roared, "I don't know what's funny here, two more cars got stolen this night right under the noses of 26 undercover units!" He went on with the scolding, but the only news was that there were no news. Judy would have liked to patrol Tundratown, the cool air would have helped her to stay focused, but of course they were assigned Sahara Square.

Judy had noticed that for some reason officer Kensington had become friendly with Nick and they always got the best cars. "Hey, Nick, wanna ride the Mustang?", he greeted them. Nick looked at Judy but she just said "You drive!" That puzzled Nick as she normally would kill to drive the fancy patrol car herself, "Sure, Lionel. Everything nice? How was your Sunday?", he blinked an eye, "Oh, great, thanks, it was very… satisfying!" Lionel grinned broadly. Normally, Judy would have been curious what this was all about, but today she couldn't care less and just climbed in the passenger seat. Nick entered the highway at Flock Street. Highway 4 would be crowded shortly when the rush hour started, so he tried to get to Sahara Square quickly, but Judy pointed at a fast food restaurant and said "Stop there!" – "Now? But we never have our first break…" – "Just do it!" she yelled. "Okay, okay. Should I get the usual cappu…" – "No, I want a coke!" – "Coke? I've never seen you…" – "Get – me – the – fucking – COKE!" Judy had yelled so loud that her own ears were ringing. She saw the hurt look in his eyes and wanted to apologize but just said, "Lots of ice, please."

He didn't stop at the drive-thru but parked the car and got out without a word. Probably he wanted to get away from her. "Great…", she sighed and banged her head on the dashboard. She had pissed off her partner. She loved him so much, but treated him so bad. Her body reacted to her aggressiveness, she was sweating more and more. She sniffed at her arm pit – gross. She just hoped that she wouldn't meet any bunnies today, they would know immediately what was wrong with her. Nick came back, gave her a large cup saying "Here." – "Thanks." She ignored the cupholder in her door and squeezed the cup between her legs. That helped a little. She slurped the ice cold fluid through the straw trying not to think of sucking another straw next to her and checked the watch: 6:18 am, great, 11 hours and 42 minutes to go. She would never make it.

Half an hour later she was about to die. The coke had been a huge mistake. Half a gallon of liquid pressed on her bladder and the quarter pound of sugar made her heart go over 300 bpm. She was cold now as the had told Nick to crank the A/C on full power. She didn't dare to speak as she would probably yell at him and she had already hurt him a lot today. But for some reason he was smirking and that fired her libido even more. Without noticing, she started kicking the dashboard. After the fifth time, Nick stepped on the brakes and the powerful car came to a screeching halt, the safety belt knocking the air out of Judy. The cars behind them started honking.

"Nick, what the hell…" Nick had unbuckled, bowed over to her, his face close to hers, grinning, "Shut up, honey bunny." His paws landed on her thighs, sending thunderbolts through her brain. He took off her shades, "Do you think you're gonna make it til shift's end, dear?", he said in a most friendly voice, "And what about me? Will I die from that putrid smell of yours or drown in all the pussy juice you're producing?" – "Nick, don't do that, don't say…", "Aww, man, these crimson ears suit you…", his tongue was only an inch away and Judy was turning her head to the side. "I think a certain bunny had forgotten to take her pill and is now in mating mode – or should I say in the heat?" She was so shocked, that her heart was missing a beat, "Waitwaitwait, what? How do you…?" With an evil smile Nich took a book out of his breast pocket. "Look what I found in the police library… I thought, when I date a bunny it wouldn't hurt knowing a bit of you guys… 'The Private Life of the Rabbits' written by a guy named Locksley… according to the stamps in here no one has borrowed this for a decade, which is a shame, because alone that chapter about mating is pure porn and had turned me really on… man, if I had gotten this book ten years ago, I would have dated on bunnies much earlier and never wasted time on those boring vixens!"

Judy had never been so embarrassed in her entire life. That sly fox had found out all about her kind! And now he started kissing her in the car! "Nick, stop it, please! Everyone will see us…" – "The windows are tinted, dear…" – "No, I mean it, it drives me crazy, you don't know what…", "Oh, I know, my wonderful horny bunny, it's all in this little book – and I know just the cure for you!" – "You… can't… seriously think, that…" – "Nah, not here, the seats are surrogate leather and Lionel will kill me if we ruin them with our fluids…" – "NICK, STOP TALKING LIKE THAT, I'LL EXPLODE…" He finally went back in his seat and buckled, looking out of the window, "I think, I know just the cozy place for us", he pointed to a skyscraper formed like antlers. "I heard the Oasis Hotel have sound-proof suites to guarantee maximum privacy…" – "You must be crazy, you can't just…" – "Okay, carrots, follow me, do what I say and in no time you will be out of the heat." Judy was helpless. She just nodded, giving in, her brain fogged. "Just fight it five more minutes, okay, cotton tail?" – "I'll try", she said weakly.

While the war of hormones continued in her body, Judy sat apathically in the car. She had no idea what Nick planned and she didn't care. _He knows everything! How will I ever be able to look him in the eyes again?_ Sirens wailing, the car shot over the ramp of the Oasis Hotel with over 100 mph, the obese goat at the hotel's garage entry barely managed to pull open the barrier before the car swished through. They screeched to a halt on the handicapped parking right in front of the elevator. Nick switched off the siren but left the lights on. To Judy's horror he pressed the button of his shoulder mike. "Unit 4-36 for 4-0, do you read?" – "4-36, go ahead", came the calm female voice of ZPD's dispatcher. "We're on Agave Avenue, in pursuit of two suspects, blue line, 10-55, 10-69", Nick said calmly. Judy stared at him, shaking her head. The codes he had transmitted to dispatch meant they had a clue in the car theft case, that had been dubbed "blue line" in ZPD's mission log. The two ten-codes translated to that they would leave the car, would not use radio and did not need any reinforcements. "4-36, copied, 10-77." – "Ten-Four, over and out!", Nick pulled out the cable of his shoulder mike, bent over and did the same with Judy's. "Just in case…", he smiled. "Nick, we're dead!", she sighed. 10-77 meant, that dispatch would inform chief Bogo about what was happening; obviously the water buffalo had instructed them to keep him informed about all "blue line" activities. "Bogo will sack us as soon as he finds out!" – "Oh, he won't if you play along nicely and obey your trusted friend", he said and got out of the car. Judy's legs were shaking as they entered the elevator and pressed "Lobby". "How can you be so calm? Our lifes are ruined whenever your scheme is busted…" His cool demeanor and smile drove her up the wall, but the he said "I am not calm… I think, I am more afraid then you are, but one of the basic rules of my former criminal life is: The more nervous you are, the calmer you must look!" Before she could answer the door opened and they stood in the luxurious 500ft high lobby of the Oasis Hotel.

Nick was running on pure adrenaline now. He felt like in former times, during one of his heists when everything including his life was at stake. Together with the state of his lovemate next to him, this pushed him over all boundaries. His mind was racing at lightning speed. He took in every information he could need. Next to the elevator was a map of the hotel, Nick took one glance on it and knew what he needed to know. He walked to the reception desk, quickly, but not running, head held high, breast out, full of confidence. "This guy knows what he's doing!" would everyone think who took a look at him.

The reception desk had five sections for five different animal sizes, from a height of two inch on the left to nine feet on the right. With one look Nick had estimated and characterized the five clerks, from the shrew to the left to the elephant on the right. He also noted the pigeon holes behind the desk holding hundreds of room keys. Under every hole there was a small brass plate with the room number engraved on it and a colored marker. The colors showed every person who knew the code (and Nick was one of them, of course) if a room was occupied, in cleaning, or had received any mail or was due to check out. The middle section of the reception desk would have suited his height the best, but the badger behind it looked grim and was talking on a headset. So he walked straight to the fourth section, that was a bit too high for him, but the clerk here was perfect for Nick's needs. She was a young beautiful lynx, white fur **,** black markings, long ears with pitch black brushes at each end, meticulously trimmed, huge sparkling friendly bright blue eyes. As Nick was reaching her desk, she pushed a button and the desk glided down some inches making it more comfortable to talk. "Welcome in the Oasis Hotel, officer…", she looked at his name tag, "… Wilde." The way she pronounced his name let a wave of anger rush through Judy's brain. Jealous? _Yeah, you bet!_ "We have a situation here…", Nick whispered, put a finger to his lip and looked around as if to check if no one was listening. Automatically she bent forward her slim head tilted a bit so their noses where only an inch apart. "We think, that…", Nick interrupted himself, looking stunned, "Man, I bet you hear that every day, but your eyes really look like moonlit lakes!" She bent back her head and let out a soft giggle. "Thanks officer..." – "Call me Nick!" – "And I am Crystal!" – "Of course you are!", he said and Judy's body temperature went up another degree. "Your eyes are amazing, too, I like green…", the sassy lynx purred and Judy's paw moved to her gun. _His eyes are emerald, stupid bitch! Get a little closer to him and you will have a third moonlit lake right in your forehead…_ Judy took a deep breath. She must control herself. She started reciting paragraphs from her law training in police academy to keep her brain busy and her mind focused.

Nick cleared his throat and looked serious now, "As I said, we have a situation here… we think we have followed two suspects in here and we need to keep close to them". Crystal looked at him shocked. "Criminals? In here? Oh, my… how can I help?" – "They are in room 1466. Officer Hopps here, our surveillance expert", he pointed at Judy and the lynx looked at her smiling, but Judy thought she was making fun of her. _You think I am just a worthless bunny, but wait til I rip your freak eyeballs out… oh no, oh no, concentrate, a police officer is not allowed to search a building alone, at least two officers are required, in case armed animals are suspected to be inside at least four officers…_ She kept on reciting regulations while Nick continued to explain that they would need a room next to the culprits in order to overhear them and that a room directly above would be best. Nick had already gathered all information knowing that suite 1509 was above room 1466 and that it was empty. But of course, he waited patiently while Crystal typed on her keyboard. "There is a suite right above, but the suites are all soundproof, you won't hear nothing from the room below…" – "Oh, we have brought equipment, we'll be able to hear everything.", Nick lied. Crystal looked back on her screen, "… yeah, you're lucky, it's vacant…" – "Quick, give me the key!", Nick urged her. She reached up to the pigeon hole with the number 1509 and handed him what looked like an old fashioned key but was a chip card in disguise. "Is there a stair case or an elevator next to the room where we could get in without being seen?", he asked even though he knew the answer. She nodded, "Yes, a service elevator is about ten meters to the left… you need a coded card to operate it", her paw reached inside her breast pocket and took out an unmarked plain white card, "Here, take mine! The door is over there, behind that huge potted palm tree." Nick beamed at her, "You are such a big help! We'll return card and key as soon as we're finished here, but don't worry, this could take some time!" – "No problem, Nick, I'm here all day – take care, please!", she purred after him. Judy grunted. _Go, give him a kiss, why don't you, you slut?_ When they were alone in the elevator, she roared "Why, that flirty little bitch nearly made me puke…", but Nick interrupted, "… but she gave us a free suite, so you should be grateful… Maybe we should have asked her along, I bet she looks awesome without that cheese cake uniform…" – "STOP IT, I'LL KILL YOU, IT'S GETTING WORSE ANY SECOND…" He grabbed her, pushed her hard against the wall and stuffed her mouth with his tongue. While they were kissing, he held Crystal's card in front of the pad. A small beep was heard, then he pressed the button 15 and opened a small pocket on his utility belt, without releasing Judy from his firm grip. He took out a fire key and inserted it in a locked switch named "FIRE CONTROL" under the number pad. He set the switch from "OPS" to "PRIO". Now the elevator would not stop and not take any commands except from that pad.

When they arrived at the 15th floor and the door opened, Nick released Judy and she inhaled deeply sliding down the wall and sat on the floor. Nick quickly checked that the corridor was empty. He turned the fire switch to "MAINT" and checked that the display at the corridor now flashed "Out of order". He pulled Judy up, walked the short distance to the door marked 1509 and used the key to open it. Judy walked inside, awed by the splendid furniture and the huge bed at the window. "Okay and what will we… ouch!" She had received a hard kick in her back that sent her flying through the room, landing on the fluffy covers of the king sized bed. Before she could get up, Nick was over her, pressing her down, whispering in her ear, "And now, my filthy little bunny, we're alone at last, you can scream as loud as you like in here, and scream you will, you better believe it." The way he spoke to her, the way he touched her, forced himself on to her, it felt so good. "But Nick…", she said when he suddenly slapped her hard in the face. It hurt and the pain made her lust increase even more. "We have no names, we are just two dirty animals, following our instincts. I'm a hungry predator and you are my prey. You'll call me Mr Fox and I… I think, I'll call you 'Lunch', given the time. Do you like your new name, Lunch?" – "Y… yes, Mr Fox", she said, but he slapped her face again, "That's Mr Fox, _Sir_ to you, you stinking slut." – "Yes, Mr Fox, Sir", she whispered. He had taken off her clothes while speaking and now he undressed himself. Judy laid flat on the bed, unable to move, her face hurting, but yet, for the first time today, she felt really good. The aggressive feelings inside of her were turning her on, when he intimidated her, when he forces her to call him with that stupid name, she wanted to hurt him bad, to made him pay, even though it brought her pleasure.

They started like the last time with oral sex, it took only two minutes before his tongue brought her an enormous orgasm, during which the claws on her front paws fully extended and made Nick yelp in pain as she was pressing hard on his balls and cock. He grabbed her and yanked her off his sensible parts but lost some fur in the progress. "Are you crazy, you… ouch!" She had forcefully bitten his arm and this time he slapped her without holding back. She hissed and bared her teeth at him. _She is going savage! Maybe I went a bit too far…_ Nick thought. He pinned her down on the bed and she opened her legs, inviting him. Sharp claws dig into his back pulling him towards her. Her aggressiveness powered him, he embraced her pressing his body against hers and gave her what she wanted.

When he was inside her a powerful pain exploded at his right shoulder where her head was. She had bitten him again, but this time her jaws pressed harder and harder, her teeth digging in his flesh. When her mouth filled with his blood, something snapped in Judy's brain. From here on, the things went out of control badly. Unfortunately, Nick was an animal, too. The feeling of getting attacked combined with the intense sexual stimulation was pulling the plug out of his cerebrum as well. What had Mr Big told them? "Deep down inside, we are still animals…"

 _90 minutes later (The things that had happened in here had to be edited out as they were shocking, disgusting and way too hardcore even for an M rated story.)_

Judy woke up and didn't know where she was. Opening her eyes was a task that took her one minute – and it hurt. It was bright daylight and she was lying… "Shit!" A flash of memory came back to her: the forgotten pill, her glands gotten haywired, Nick, the Oasis Hotel, that lynx girl, then the suite and then… another shock as she realized she was a police officer on duty lying naked in a hotel room she couldn't afford. She jumped out of what once had been a bed. Intensive pain everywhere! Her legs were sore, her head hurt. The only positive thing was that she was out of the heat. She hobbled slowly into the bathroom. When she switched on the lights and looked in the mirror she slumped to the floor. Blood was everywhere. Her face was swollen and thick white lumps had dried in her facial fur. She had a black eye and the gristle of her left ear was ripped like someone tried to get tear her ear off. She couldn't lift the ear, it hanged down limp. "Oh, fuck, I hope it's not permanent!", she whispered. Where did all the blood come from? She had several wounds and when she stood up she saw more of that white stuff on her thighs.

Suddenly, she froze. Nick! Was this Nick's blood all over her body? She remembered, he had attacked her during his stupid master and servant game and she had fought back. Had she killed him? She ran back into the main room and saw the fox lying on his back. He was breathing, thank God. Then she realized the state of the room. The sheets and covers and pillows had been ripped and torn, the filling of the pillows was everywhere. The wooden bed frame was broken, the nightcase had fallen. The two lamps over the bed had been reduced to shards and splinters. Blood was on the wall. "Nick, wake up, wake up, we're in big trouble!" – "Carrots, what the hell… oh my god, what happened to you?" – "I could ask the same… oh, shit, your shoulder!" – "Yeah, you bit me, you crazy bunny!" – "No, I would never…", she stopped mid sentence, hesitating. Nick tried to get up but he cried out and hold his side. "Fuck, I think one of your kicks broke my rib!" – "I am sorry!", she said, "Oh Nick, what should we do? We're in the middle of our shift, we wrecked a hotel suite and we're both injured. There's no way Bogo could overlook this – he'll sack us!", she gasped, "What will I tell my parents?" – "You have problems… help me up here, will ya? Okay, okay, I'll get us out of this mess, I don't know how, but I've talked my way out of bigger trouble. So, how long have we been here?" The clock on thenightcase had not survived it, but Judy found her uniform pants with her phone in it. "Shit, Nick, it's 11:10 am! We've been here over two hours!" – "Okay, I must buy us some time – find my radio, quick!" When she got his radio and shoulder mike, he connected the cable back to the receiver and switched it on and pressed the mike button: "4-36 for 4-0!" The voice of ZPD dispatcher came out of the small speaker, "4-36, glad to have you back! The chief is asking every five minutes for you guys!" – "Yeah, the situation got a bit out of hand here… and took longer than we thought." – "Question 10-30, still 10-77?" The dispatcher asked for their location and asked if they still didn't need reinforcements. The latter relieved Nick, that meant they had not sent someone on their trail yet. "Oasis Hotel and 10-77 still valid", he replied. "Give us 60 before 10-99", he asked dispatch for one hour to close the task. "10-8", dispatch replied. Not good. She would ask Bogo now if he would give them another hour. They waited breathlessly until the radio came back to life, "4-36, chief says 10-89 at noon. Over." – "Ten-Four. Over and out!" He sighed. "We're lucky. We have 47 minutes before he wants us to report to him, that's more than I had expected!" – "Are you insane? We could never clean up this mess in 47 hours!" – "We won't. We'll make us up. Rip your uniform." – "What? Why?" – "Carrots, Bogo may look stupid, but he isn't. He is a cop. When he sees us injured like this but our uniforms are as new, what will he conclude?" – "Oh, okay… but what will you tell him?" – "I don't know yet, I'll make this up as I go." They started to collect their clothes and belongings out of the trash pile. Judy's underwear was soaked. "Ewww, what's that? Gross, my T-shirt smells like… is that pee?" – "I am sure it's no honey!", Nick said grinning, but pain let the grin disappear quickly, "Man, you know it's bad when you can't even laugh…"

It took them fifteen minutes to get into their freshly damaged uniform. Judy threw her underwear in the bin while Nick slammed Judy's radio on the floor and made sure it was not working anymore. "So, no one can blame you for not calling." Judy wanted to clean herself up, but Nick stopped her, "No, the worse we look, the more plausible our story will be. Just… just remove the… you know what I mean." She washed herself between the legs and peeled the dried up cum out of her swollen face and checked for numb places with her paw. "Shit, Nick, one of my teeth is loose! A front one, of course. I'll kill you if I have to run around with a gap for the rest of my life!" She sighed, "Do you remember what had happened?" – "Only the beginning…", he grinned, she nodded, "Yes, Mr Fox, Sir… who gave you that stupid idea? I bet it's from on of that porn movies you used to watch…" She elbowed him in the chest, sending him to the floor, "Ahhh, fuck, my rib!" – "Oh, sorry Nick, I forgot!" – "Okay, now we'll take care of this mess here – is the phone still working?" She grabbed the receiver that had been kicked from it's docking station but still was okay. Nick took it and pressed zero. "Hello? Give me Crystal, please.", Judy reached over and pressed the speaker button, "Hi Crystal, it's me, Nick." – "Oh god, Nick, what happened, I've been so frightened, I was about to call the police…" – "Crystal, please, keep calm now… where can we meet, no one must see us…" – "Wait… okay, take the same elevator down to Mezzanine level. First door to the right, there's an empty meeting room, I'll wait in there." – "Good. Bring pain killers." – "Oh, god, Nick, what…", but the fox killed the line.

They needed nearly two minutes for the walk to the elevator, Nick limping badly. When the door opened down there, they checked, but no one was here. When they entered the meeting room, Crystal's white face became even whiter and Nick needed 2 more valuable minutes to calm her down. "The good news is, we found the guys. The bad news is, when we tried to interrogate them, they panicked and tried to fight their way out. And the even worse news is that it was all a misunderstanding and we had to let them go. And the worst news is, during the fight we wrecked the suite pretty good." He gulped down three of the pills Crystal had brought and drank some water. "We must keep this secret. When someone of the press would find out…", "No one will!", Crystal said proudly, "I'll take care of that myself. It's not the first time a suite is wrecked up by guests. We have all kind of rich weird animals here and rock bands and much more. I'll get a set of new furniture from the maintenance level and clean up the mess. I've done it before, I'm not afraid of dirty work! And I'll do it alone, no one will notice. That's the least I can do after you two had been so brave…" Judy also took one pain killer, "Thanks, Crystal, we appreciate a lot.", Judy said to her, feeling bad that they had to lie to the good hearted lynx. "Nick, we need to go…" Judy sent Nick an evil look as the sly fox asked Crystal for her cell phone number, "just in case I need more details for our report", as he said with a wide grin.

Crystal led them down to the garage that was still illuminated in red and blue by the police car's flashing lights. They got in and Nick asked Crystal to close the door for him as he couldn't lean forward with his broken rib. 11:52 am. Nick managed 145 mph on the car pool lane of Highway 4 using lights and sirens to clear the way. They didn't spoke a word, Nick worked on the story he had to feed Bogo. As he said to Judy earlier, a good con artists didn't lie but now he had to so he need to work it out. He told Judy to write down two names and run them through the mobile terminal in the car. When she did, the display showed that both names had an impressive police record, but none connected to car theft. "Look at the pics and remember them – those two had attacked us. And put them both on the search list." – "But what if they got caught? They would never…" – "They won't", Nick intervened, "they both got iced by Mr Big two years ago." Judy gulped, remembering how close both of them had been to meet the same fate. She started typing on the small keyboard in the dashboard, asking "Civil disorder? Or Mayhem?" Nick nodded, "Both. And maybe Sexual Assault?" – "Ha-ha. Nick, that's not funny at all, I hate doing all this and I am still not sure if it wouldn't be better to tell Bogo the truth and face the consequences." – "Okay, honey bunny, what are you going to tell him first? About your sexual behaviour, how we managed to get a free suite in the Oasis or what happened when your basic instincts kicked into gear? And how many spicy details will you add? Oh, please, give me a copy of your written report, I bet it's a great night's lecture. But I bet they will print it in the ZPD daily press bulletin anyway, that will be the first time they have to x-rate that." Judy closed her eyes and slumped back in the seat. "You are right. But I still hate it." – "Carrots, I know that is hard, but my career is on stake here, too. And it was not your fault, it was just… nature. We'll just protect your dignity. Just follow me, whatever I'll do or say. Okay, here we are. Show time!"

It was 12:01 pm. As they were late, Nick stopped the car on the emergency parking spot right in front of the main entry. Everything, their careers, their entire life depended now on the next half hour.

 _Next chapter: A lot of lying – will it go well? Will they finally be able to concentrate on the car theft case? Stay tuned!_


	10. Chapter 10 - Foxy Tales

**Chapter 10 – Foxy Tales**

Finally, the pain killers Nick had taken in the hotel kicked in. So he needed to suppress a laugh when he saw Clawhauser's face muscles pull up the chubby cheeks to a grin as soon as he saw them – and change the face into a shocked grimace when he recognized the state of them. "Oh my god!", he exclaimed while jumping from his chair and ran towards them, kicking over two boxes of donuts that rolled all over the floor. "What happened? I'll call the doc down here…" – "No, you don't!", shouted Nick to him, "We need to see the chief, no more delays! Is Bogo in his office?" Clawhauser looked at the clock above his reception desk. "He just started the briefing for the afternoon shift in the bull pen…" – "Then we'll wait in his office…" – "No, no, he explicitly said you should come to the briefing as soon as you… you are here!", he starting sobbing and Judy was shocked to see large tears rolling out of the cheetah's eyes. "My god, Benji, get a grip on yourself, will you? You're a cop, for crying out loud, you sit at the front desk, the last thing people want to see when they come here for help…", she reprimanded him. Clawhauser nodded and continued the sentence, "… is a fat parody of a cop crying like a girly-girl, I know…", he wiped his eyes, got out a handkerchief the size of a table cloth and blew his nose noisily. "I always forget that you are so much tougher than you look, you are soooo cu…" – "Don't say it! I told you, don't you dare use the c-word on me!" They limped off to the bull pen and Judy shook her head, "Man, I like that guy, I really do, but sometimes I could kick his fat butt, but I doubt he would even notice…"

Then they stood in front of the briefing room door. "Okay, brace for impact!", Nick said and in they went. They walked silently through the middle aisle while Bogo spoke, "… we still had no clue this morning, but currently two officers are following a new trail and… speaking of the devil, here they are!" He smiled at them, but only for a second until he looked above his reading glasses to see how they looked like. "Goodness gracious, Judy, Nick, what the hell has happened to you?" For the first time he called them by first name and his loud strong voice was suddenly full of concern. Nick raised his hand to a salute, his voice was low and soft. "I am sorry, sir, but we only can report that we have utterly disappointed you." He looked to the floor, his entire body limp. _Don't overdo it, Nick!_ Judy thought. Bogo looked from one to another, "But… what had happened? Who did that to you?" He inhaled deeply and looked around, "Okay, the rest of you guys are dismissed!" He waited til the room had cleared. The officers from the afternoon shift looked at them full of pity. When the door had closed, Bogo told them to sit down and took the chair opposite from them. Nick started his report. According to him, they had observed a wolf and a polar bear acting suspiciously around a fancy SUV. When they had left and entered the Oasis Hotel, the two cops had followed them and with the help of a receptionist had managed to find out which room they had. Judy than had used her excellent hearing to eavesdrop on the two suspects, but they had to open the door a bit as the rooms in the hotel are soundproof. Bogo nodded impatiently. Just when they had heard that these guys just tried to sell the car on the net with a fake name so the wife of the polar bear who happened to be the car's owner wouldn't notice – obviously they were in the middle of a dirty divorce process – one of them noticed the open door, discovered the two officers and attacked immediately. According to Nick, the two officers had tried their best but the two wannabe culprits could escape.

"We were able to get the identities from the receptionist later on", Nick said and nodded to Judy, who gave Bogo the two printouts from the names Nick had told her. "But I think, they are fake. Unfortunately, we didn't got the license plate of the SUV, but it belongs to the wife of the white guy.

Bogo nodded again and looked at the printouts. "A wolf and a polar bear?", he asked, "For that, you two still look quite good, I must say." Judy looked to the floor. She has never been so ashamed. Not only that the things that had really happened would wreck her reputation once and for all, but Nick had told Bogo this fake story in a way that she was the one doing everything right and he did all the mistakes. Judy had discovered the car, she had gotten the identities from the receptionist and so on. Bogo had seen her reaction and misunderstood it, "Officer Hopps, don't look so ashamed. I know perfectly well that you want to show your worth and prove to me that you deserve to wear the badge. Rest assured, you are. I think I made a big mistake when you arrived here 9 months ago and I underestimated you. I am sorry about that."

That made it even worse. If he had yelled at her, suspended her or whatever, she would have felt better. But the last thing she'd expected was that he smiled at her in that way and praised her. Nick made it even worse, "You should have seen her fight, sir, she was attacking with legs, teeth and claws. I am really glad, she's on our side." – "Looks like you both did well out there. There are not many officers your size that had a fight with a wolf and a polar bear and lived to tell the tale. And now enough with that sulky faces. I know you think you screwed up, but I know what had happened…", he grinned, "you two wanted to solve the case, you were so eager that you forgot all the rules and even told dispatch you didn't need any back up. Man, the entire city counsel is on me for that damned stolen cars, if I was out there with you, it might as well had gotten me, too… Don't worry, I won't rip off your heads or what's left of them." He patted them on their shoulders with his mighty hooves and Nick winced under the weight. "What bad chief would I be if I don't know how you rookie cops are ticking… I certainly won't punish you for doing the right things at the wrong time. So, go up to the doc, she should patch you up, you two are on sick leave the rest of today…" he looked them up and down, "and tomorrow, too, I think." He turned his head to the large duty roster on the wall, "Wednesday you'll change to night shift anyway, so you have more than 48 hours to lick your wounds."

That was too much for Judy, "But sir, we could…" – "Officer Hopps, I just gave an order and I think, even with one ear damaged you have understood or haven't you? Doc – Home – Back on Wednesday night! Have your report of that… incident ready by then. Dismissed!" Silently they walked out of the briefing room. Judy felt bad about all this. Not only that Nick had took all the blame and had painted a colorful picture of her beating up a wolf and a polar bear, no, they now had gotten a 48 hour break they didn't deserve at all.

Even worse, as soon as they reached the reception desk, there stood officers Tony, his wolf partner Fangmeyer and another team, Bullhorn and MacMahon. A breathless Clawhauser had obviously just filled them in about what had happened as all four were staring at Nick and Judy in shock. The elegant tabby cat pounced on Judy. "Oh, what did they do to your beautiful face?", she cried out and took Judy in her slender arms lifting her high above the ground like a child. "Kitty, cut it out, please…", Judy sighed. But Kitty had taken a look at Nick and dropped Judy unceremoneously on the floor to attack the fox with a tight hug. "Nicky, not you, too… poor little foxy…" – "Ouch, ouch, ouch, Kitty, you're breaking even more of my ribs… let go, will you? Man!" He had freed himself and looked embarassed as the three male officers smirked at the scene. "What do you guys do here anyway? Shouldn't you be on patrol?", Nick asked. Bullhorn, the rhino, snorted. "We had to take care of a major accident on highway 45, took us four hours! Fifteen cars totalled…" – "Actually, only fourteen", intervened Kitty, "but Officer Stampede here…", she pointed at Bullhorn, "… stepped on a mouse's car, the poor little fellow was so mad at us, I can tell you… now were here to do a ton of paperwork…" Kitty's chatter was stopped by chief Bogo's voice coming out of the speaker on Clawhauser's desk. "Is this MacMahon's voice I hear?", he yelled. Clawhauser pressed the button, "Yes, sir, she, Bullhorn, Tony and Fangmeyer just reported back from that accident on fourtyfive…" – "Tell that mangy cat she is to make sure that Hopps and Wilde see the doctor, than she should give them a ride home in an unmarked car – I don't want the two ride the bus looking like that… would draw a bad picture of the department." The speaker clicked off.

Kitty grinned, throwing her notepad to Bullhorn, "Okay, Chubby Checker, you heard the boss… hope you can read my handwriting, have fun with all the paperwork!", She took the paws of Judy and Nick and pulled them forward. When passing by her partner, her tail swished over his face. Judy felt like a little kid being lead from the playground when recess was over, she heard the rhino grumble "I hate her when she does this…"

The walked up on the 2nd floor where the infirmary was. Alyssa Mwabene, V.M.D., an ancient lioness who was patching up cops since the lord had separated the light from the darkness, was already standing in the doorframe, "Man, old Buffalo Butt had not exaggerated when he called me two minutes ago… walk right in, you two, I have two nice cosy stretchers prepared…", she took a look at Kitty's model figure, "And you? Bulimia?" Kitty pressed her paws in her hips, "Hell, no!", she replied, adding a nearly inaudible "… not any more…" – "Then wait outside, puss!" She slammed the door in Kitty's furious face, then pulled a curtain between the two stretchers, remaining on Judy's side. "Okay, ladies first… strip!" At least she turned around while Judy pulled off her torn uniform. Judy hoped the doc wouldn't notice that she was not wearing any underwear. When Mwabene turned back and looked at Judy's maimed body she whistled. "Wow, looks like you had gone savage during some sexual innuendo wit that hottie of a fox over there, haven't you?" Judy stared at her with eyes wide open while she heard Nick gasping on the other side of the curtain. The lioness threw her head back and let out a roar that made Judy's sensible ears ring. "I was kidding, fluff butt, just kidding! Man, these new cops can't take a joke, no one told you that laughing is the best medicine? Okay, we'll start at your legs here and work our way up…" She was busy desinfecting, cleaning, taping and putting band-aids on.

When she reached Judy's hips, she murmured, "I'll be darned, these scratches here… if I wouldn't know better…" She took a closer look, than her face became serious. "Fox: Out!", she just said looking at Judy. The huge golden eyes of the lioness made her feel even smaller. Nick said, "What? Why, you haven't even…" – "I said out! Wait on pussy cats lap if you want, but leave us alone!" Nick groaned while he forced himself from the stretcher. After he closed the door, Dr Mwabene sat on the stretcher next to Judy. "I have seen these kind of marks before… girl, these two guys who attacked you… have they raped you?" – "Wh… what? No, no, they didn't!" – "Spread your legs, gal!", she had taken a speculum from one of the drawers. "Listen, doc, I don't think this is…" – "Yeah, but I do and you know the deal, I am your superior in everything regarding your health and I could make this an order if you do not comply!" Judy had no choice. Every part of her face not covered by fur went crimson. The lioness inserted the instrument in Judy's vagina and shook her head, "I don't need to ask if you'd been sexually active in the last 24 hours… you're so full of cum… but here we also have some healed miniature tissue ruptures, these can't be from today…", she continued. "Listen, doc, I… I have a boyfriend… and he, I mean we… we may have gotten a bit taken away, while… and it was my first time…" Judy had closed her eyes, man, this was so embarrassing and that old bitch hurt her with that stupid telescope she had inserted. The doctor sighed, "Man, your little bunny friend must be rather well equipped… and you tell the truth, don't you? It is no shame, I could arrange a meeting with the counselor…" – "No, no, I swear on my badge that this was not done by those guys we tried to arrest!" The doc nodded slowly, "And these claw marks here are not from your boyfriend?" – "That happened in the hotel room today!" Judy hoped the doc wouldn't notice that she had not answered her question directly. Without any word, she treated the other wounds. When she put a balm on Judy's swollen face, Judy asked her to check the tooth that had become loose. "It will grow in when you can resist wiggling it – at least, I think that, I am not a fucking dentist. But your ear… this is really bad. I wonder if the nerve is still working…", she pressed a cotton pad with desinfectant on the rupture in Judy's ear that made Judy nearly hit the ceiling. "That's a good sign. I'll use a spatula to create a splint for that ear to hold it up… I hope in two or three days you can lift it yourself again. Okay, you can dress and send that fox in…"

Half an hour later, Nick came out of the infirmary. He wore no shirt, his chest was covered in a white adhesive tape bandage. "Two broken ribs, another one cracked", he tried to smile but didn't fully succeed. "Does it hurt badly?", Kitty asked silently, "It will when I have to remove this, will rip off my fur for good…" Kitty drove them to Nick's place and reacted surprised when Judy got out of the car with Nick. "I thought you are living at Pangolin's… wait…", her eyes doubled in size, "… have you moved in his…" – "No, of course not!", Judy said quickly, "but Bogo wants that report done and we'll better do it now as long as the memories are fresh. Hey Kitty, our car's still parked in front of ZPD main entrance, would you take care, please?" Kitty MacMahon nodded, "Of course, Judy. You two, get well soon!"

They watched her drove off, then they went into Nick's pitch black apartment. Judy slumped down on the sofa, "That has been the worst day in my life! And it's all my fault for forgetting that stupid pill! I could have lost everything, my job, my entire life, everything I dreamed for…" – "Who cares, we got out of this mess together, didn't we? Don't feel bad my sweet little cotton tail…" Very slowly, Nick sat down next to her. "You don't really want to write that fucking report now, do you?", he asked. "No, you will write it", she replied. "It's your fucking story, so you better make it good. We're not out yet, Bogo might still stumble over the holes in your fairy tale of the brave bunny beating the shit out of two giant predators ten times her size." – "Okay, carrots, but not today. I'll lie down and don't get up before tomorrow. But not without my favourite pillow…", he grabbed Judy and pressed his face against hers, covering it with kisses. Judy giggled, "Stop that, be careful about my ear, you big stupid fox. And don't dream of us doing anything else but sleeping in your bed, okay?", she smiled at him, then added: "Maybe tomorrow…", Nick pressed his paw against his hurt ribs, "Maybe next week…", he sighed, his eyes already closed. So they lied together on the sofa, dozing off, when Judy said, "As you wish, Mr Fox, sir!"

 _Next chapter: Lots of action and drama as our heroes finally found a REAL clue in the stolen car case and the trace is much hotter than they expected! Stay tuned!_


	11. Chapter 11 - A Night in the Rain

**Chapter 11 – A Night in the Rain**

For two wonderful days they lived lika a married couple. Judy stayed in Nick's apartment the entire time, they had all meals together (Nick got them from various fast food places around as none of them was in the mood for cooking), he had driven to Judy's apartment to get her fresh clothes, a new uniform and some personal things. They watched some movies, listened to music, slept a lot in each others arms and spent considerable time in Nick's spacious jacuzzi. Nick also managed to finish the report and after Judy had corrected a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes ("Hey, I left school when I was twelve!" – "At least you could try to stick to one tense in your report!", she replied, but he just grinned, raising his paw like a teacher, stating "The days of correct tenses has went!" what led to Judy throwing her pencil at him), she reluctantly signed it. "I know, honey bunny, you hate to lie and, believe it or not, I do, too. But for once we must do it like that. See it like this: who would we help with the truth? No one. It would just be embarrassing for every one involved."

On Wednesday evening they needed nearly an hour to free Nick of the adhesive tape bandage around his chest and Nick had been right about losing a considerable amount of breast fur during the process. Judy removed the splint from her ear and found that she could move it again, even if it still hurt a bit. The first briefing brought more embarrassment to Judy as chief Bogo was praising them for "initiative and courage", even if the result had been disappointing. "But back to the case:", he grumbled, "We have now a total of 87 cars stolen and still not a single screw had appeared on the black market yet. And even our informants have heard nothing yet. So, half of you will patrol the city in unmarked cars, the rest will show presence. Dismissed!"

Wednesday night passed and Judy and Nick, who were in a patrol car, just had to deal with some minor traffic violations and a fight between a yelling couple. Next night, in an unmarked car and civilian clothes (as it was still hot out there, Judy wore hot pants and a tank top and she had to remind Nick several times to observe the streets and not her curvy figure), they cruised through all the shady areas of Zootopia without finding more than a sassy teenage cheetah runaway girl. They brought her home while she was yelling insults to both of them from the back seat.

On Friday they were back in a patrol car, facing a full weekend on duty. It was 1 am on Saturday morning when they drove on highway 5 through the Rainforest District. Judy was slurping her usual cappuccino while Nick was driving. Suddenly, there was a strange tension between them in the car and both looked out of the front window. Judy put the cold coffee in her cup holder. "That truck there…", she whispered. "Yes, it caught my eye, too. What don't you like about that, carrots?", he asked. "It's strange somehow… the shape is… unusual", she said while staring through the pouring rain. The truck was about 200m before them, the trailer having a strange, non-rectangular form with the tarpaulin stretching in some places, sagging in others. It was printed with the name of one of the biggest fruit merchants in Tundratown. "Strange, the trailer's license plate is from Meadowlands", Nick observed, "Count the cables between the truck and the trailer", he said while slowly overtaking the truck. "Five cables", Judy said while looking straight to the front, "one red, one yellow, two blue and one black".

Nick grinned, "So, it has no cooling device, isn't this strange for a truck tranporting fruit? Two blue and one black cable, that's a hydraulic lifting device, like…" – "… a car transporter!", finished Judy, "Sly fox!" They passed the exit to the Fruit Market, the truck now well behind them. "I bet he'll get off here…", said Nick and indeed, the truck blinked and took the exit behind them. "No problem, we'll take Peak Street and turn right on 56th . I think he'll go in the industrial area East of the Fruit Market. A good place for criminal activities!", he smiled. Three minutes later he drove slowly while checking the intersections to their left and Judy those on the right. "There they are! Vinegar Street, to the right!" she yelled. Nick turned and switched off the head lights. When they saw the truck stop, Nick squeezed the patrol car between two parked trucks. "We need to get out. Fuck the stupid rain!", he growled. "Should I call headquarters and let them switch it off?", Judy asked. The Rainforest District's rain was artificial. But Nick shook his head, "Every thug here knows that the sprinklers are switched on and off at full or half hours. When they notice the rain stops at 1.07 am, they would immediately know something's afoot."

Judy get out and Nick followed her through the passenger door. They walked on all fours. Within twenty seconds they were soaked. Judy smiled when she heard Nick growl. He hated getting wet. Judy loved being in wet clothes, no sweeter childhood memory than her and her sister Fay jumping a huge muddy puddle in their best white Sunday dresses. She shoved this memory away in order to concentrate. After five minutes they had reached a transporter directly opposite of the parked truck. When she looked under the car, she saw three pair of legs standing in front of the truck.

Nick and Judy waited while water was pouring down on them and the three suspects who were obviously waiting for something to happen, but the rain was too loud to hear anything. However, at 1:30 am the artificial rain stopped. Automatically both cops and thugs looked at their watches. Judy turned to Nick who pressed the water out of his fur above his eyes. He was soaked and covered in mud as the street in this industrial area was dirty and grimey. Finally she could here something. "Well, I tell you guys, we should really hit the road. That crazy guy is now half an hour late and I don't like it, there's cops everywhere. If you ask me, this guy's completely cuckoo!" Nick has adjusted the side mirror on the car and gestured Judy to take a look. She moved her head over until she could see. Two young pumas and an elderly deer were standing there. Obviously, one of the pumas, who looked like brothers just spoke, cause the deer shook his head replying, "No. We'll wait. The Baron will get furious when he won't get the delivery today and I certainly won't be close when this nutter gets angry at me." The puma spit out but said nothing.

Five minutes later the three guys shifted as a car was closing in, a huge massive SUV, the speakers blaring rap music at ear piercing volume. The car stopped short before the three animals, the engine and music stopped and out of the door came a gigantic figure, dressed in what looked like a black jumpsuit. Judy gestured to Nick to let her climb his back so she could get a better view. He shook his head but she nodded, so he got an all fours and Judy climbed his back. When she was standing on tiptoes she could barely look over the transporters hood. She was holding her long ears down with her hands to prevent them from shooting up in a reflex. She gulped. This new guy, 'The Baron' as the deer had called him, was a panther and what she thought to be a jumpsuit was in fact his black shining fur. He wore only sneakers and short gym pants, both black, too. A large black bag was in his left paw. For a second she thought he was wearing a kind of crown or diadem but his fur had been shaved on the back of his head in a zig-zag pattern. He was at least 7' 2" and towering the other three guys by far. Those three looked as intimidated as she feeled. When the panther spoke, his voice was extremely low and vibrating with no trace of emotion in it. "You got them all?" he just asked. The deer nodded, "All seventeen you ordered, including the Silver Dagger", he said. Judy stopped breathing for a second. The Silver Dagger, a very fast and expensive rare sports car had been stolen two days ago – so she was sure now that these guys here were behind all the car thefts! They needed to call for reinforcements, but the radio would be too loud and now that the rain had stopped, they were trapped behind the transporter as they would be seen when they tried to retreat. They had no choice but to wait and listen.

The deer continued, "You have the money?" – "Yeah, 450,000 bucks." The deer turned his head to the side, looking unpleasant, "But… we had said 450,000 for 16 cars, so with the Silver Dagger, I think a round half million…" The panther came one step closer, his voice now even darker and louder, "I don't give a shit what you think, you fucking prey shit, the last delivery was not as I expected, there were scratches on at least two cars – so the Dagger is a fair compensation, don't you think?" The deer gulped but tried to look steadfast, "We don't need a quarrel here, okay, let's say four seventyfive…" A roaring laugh interrupted him, "Okay, okay, you are right. I don't want to quarrel with you…", the panther said and the deer relaxed. Without any warning the panther reached in his back and held a large silver pistol in his paw. Before anyone could react he fired a shot in the head of the still smiling deer. Judy flinched and fell from Nick's back in the muddy puddle right next to him. They both looked at each other in shock. Judy feared that the culprits would have heard the splash, but the echo of the gunshot still rings through the alley. From her new position she saw only the paws of the three remaining guys and the body of the dead deer.

"Anyone else who wants to negotiate?", the panther laughed. There came no reply. The pumas, probably still teenagers from the look of them, were still in shock it seems. "No one? Everyone happy? You? Your stupid brother?", he kept asking the pumas, "Or what about the bunny I smell?" Another loud boom from the giant weapon of the panther and Judy stared on a steaming hole in the door of the transporter directly between Nick and her. Nick reacted quickly, pointed his gun in the air and fired six, seven times to force the pumas and the panther to cover. Judy dared looking under the transporter and now she saw only the dead deer – the other three had vanished, they must be behind their truck. She got out her gun and fired three bullets, managing to hit two tires. At least these guys couldn't know just enter the truck and drove away. Nick had pressed the button of his shoulder mike, "4-36 for 4-0, blue line, I say again, blue line! Ten-seventy… four? Ah, fuck these codes, we got 'em, we got 'em, but we're under heavy fire here, send everyone over here, we're at Vinegar and 56th, I say again, Vinegar and 56th, need reinforcements…", another loud bang and fox and bunny were covered in shards from the transporter's windscreen. "… man, these guys use heavy artillery on us, come here quick!", Nick finished and fired more bullets. "Two more clips", he whispered to Judy who crouched between the other tire and continued firing. She changed her magazine, replying "This one… and another two" Her heart was pumping quickly, her eyes were wide, she felt like touching an electrical fence. When she looked over to Nick, she saw he was panting heavily, too, his teeth bared. The two pumas also seemed to have guns, they fired a series of bullets without hitting anything but their guns were obviously much smaller.

It was a stalemate situation. Neither the cops nor the thugs could leave their covers without getting seen. Two more bullets hit the transporter, two more holes in the door, the last one only one inch away from Nick's head. Then silence. Nick cursed. He signalled to Judy to cover him while he would run across the street. From there, he could force them to leave their cover. Judy shook her head frantically but he shrugged _Do you have a better idea?_ In the far distance, Judy's fine ears could hear a siren but she estimated them to be still two minutes away. She gave him a nod and at the same time he started running toward the next car, Judy climbed on the front wheel, both arms on the hood and pressing the trigger, trying to hit the truck's windows. When Nick reached the next car, she fell back on the ground changing clips. Now Nick would need to cross the street. The sirens were closer now, but what annoyed her the most was the missing reaction of the car thieves over there.

She started firing again and Nick run. She watched him from the corner of her eye, he had half crossed the street, when she realized the big mistake they made – the panther appeared from behind a parked car _directly in front of Nick!_ He must have walked over to this car completely relying on the camouflage given by his black appearance. BOOM! Nick dodged the bullet and made an elegant somersault to reach cover… at least this was what her optimistic mind was telling her, but the information from her optic nerves overlayed this with the picture of a fox falling down like a puppet with it's strings cut, crashing head first in the gutter, splashing up water and mud – then lying still. _He's pretending, of course, he's just pretending, sly fox, he lures the panther out, then shoots him, come on, Nick, please, move…_ But the panther came out smiling and Nick didn't move a bit. When Judy saw the silver pistol aim for Nick's head, she pumped all the force she had left in her thigh muscles sending her up in the air, landing on the hood of the transporter in full view of the two pumas who started firing immediately. She ignored them, ignored the sudden pain in her left leg, aimed for the head and fired. Four bullets were left in her gun, when the panther jerked his head to the left in reaction to the first shot, the bullet has already missed him by ten inches. However, this reflex movement put his head directly in the path of bullet number three and the shaved back of the panther's head exploded into a six feet long spray of red and white.

Red and blue lights flashing on the wet concrete, someone yelled, "They got him, they got the Baron! Run, run!" Judy tried to reach Nick, her left leg gave in, she was hit. She pressed the button, "Ambulance, ambulance, quick, officer Wil…", tears shot up in her eyes and she choked, "Wilde is d… d… down!" On all fours she crawled over to him. His head was face down in the muddy puddle, when she tried to lift it out, his tongue lolled out of his half open mouth. "Nick, Nick! Wake up, do you hear me? It's f… fine, everything is fine…" Her own heart was beating so loud and quickly, that she couldn't feel his pulse. More shouting in the air, "Freeze! Drop the gun, boy, face down on the floor! Careful, there is another one hiding…" Another patrol car came from the front, the headlights giving Judy the possibility to check on Nick. "Oh, fuck…" The puddle he lay in was crimson. He had a small hole in the lower left side of his abdomen, but when Judy's paw went over to his back she gasped. The exit wound was huge, the back of his uniform shirt had been ripped away completely and blood poured out so quickly, Judy could feel the flow over her paw.

Two cops ran to Judy, Bullhorn and MacMahon. The large rhino stopped when he saw the situation. "Fuck, they got Nick!" Kitty was letting out a loud wailing sound when she came close, but Judy yelled at her, "SaniPacks, SaniPacks, quick!" Kitty stopped, fell down, then ran back to the car getting a small plastic case filled with SaniPacks in different sizes. The packs were created to be a first aid help for shot wounds, containing a long band aid with a small wound pad for the entry wound and a big one for the exit wound. Kitty came back, knelt down in the mud, picking out a SaniPack and tried to rip open the cover with trembling paws, sobbing. Judy tried to put the large wound pad on the exit wound but it literally vanished in the big hole getting soaked with blood in a second. "Gimme another… no, gimme the biggest one over there!", she yelled and stuffed the entire pack, cover and all in the gaping hole in Nick's back. And another one. Then she used a fourth one to tie it all together but she felt like a stupid kid trying to empty a lake with a table spoon. She yelled in her radio, "WHERE IS THAT FUCKING AMBULANCE? I CALLED FOR AN AMBULANCE FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO!" even though her last call had just been forty seconds ago. "Two pumas in custody!", someone yelled from the other side of the street, "How many more?" – "None. The third was shot by that panther who shot Nick", Judy whispered and Bullhorn gave the information to the others. He walked to the black figure on the street and spit on him. "Fuckin' bastard!"

The ambulance arrived just two minutes after Judy called for it, but for her it has been an eternity. It didn't help that the paramedic getting out was a black panther, too. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU STUPID PRICK? WE'VE WAITED HALF AN HOUR…", her voice snapped and she broke into tears again, supported by the cat who sobbed loudly, too. The paramedic worked in this job for twenty years, he had seen a lot and he just nodded at Judy's insults and started working on Nick with help of his assistant, a young bear. The beaver who drove the ambulance came over, too. "Holy shit", the panther said and removed Judy's work with a single rip of his huge paw. "This won't stop the bleeding… give me the medium sized vacuum mat, Phil, maybe we manage to squeeze it shut, but he's bleeding like hell, there must be a ripped artery in here… shit, no, don't bring me the mat, we must get him out of the mud here…" The two others ran for the stretcher, but the paramedic didn't want to loose time. He just took Nick in his arms and ran over to the car and put him on the stretcher inside the warm and dry ambulance. Judy and the other officers followed.

When Judy climbs the high threshold to the ambulance the panther shook his head. "Sorry, officer, we can't take you. Regulations, you know. Please get out of the car." Judy nodded. "Make me", she just said. The panther looked puzzled, "What did you say?" Judy raised her head. There she stood, a wet rabbit, covered in mud and blood from ears to toes looking like a figure out of a horror movie, six police officers staring at her as she drew back her lips baring her teeth, growling like a wolf, "I SAID YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE ME! No one will separate us, I'll kill you if you try, I'll go with him, no matter what even if it will BE THE LAST THING I DO! GOT THAT?" She had extended her claws, both paws stretched forward. The next days, the other officers would spread the story like wildfire through the whole ZPD, but now they just stared at the rabid bunny in front of them, Kitty had her paws pressed against her mouth. Judy stepped forward. The panther, ten times her size and eighty times her weight, stepped back, fear in his eyes. He raised his hands. "Okay, okay, lady, calm down, please, I just want to safe your friend's life! You can sit over there, but don't get in my way…" It took ten seconds for her to snap out of her savagery, then she just sat down on the small closet he showed her. The bear shook his head then closed the doors and the ambulance drove off, leaving six stunned officers. "Have you seen this shit?", Bullhorn said. "I hope, I never get on her wrong side…"

 _Next chapter: Fight, Nick, fight! Stay tuned!_


	12. Chapter 12 - A Night at the Hospital

**Chapter 12 – A Night at the Hospital**

Judy sat on the little closet in the ambulance quietly, it seemed that the last energy she had was vaporized. They had put some kind of muzzle on Nick to prevent his tongue from getting in his throat and the young bear named Phil had intubated him and attached an oxygen tube to the tubus. Nick lay on his side, face towards Judy. The bulb at the end of the tube was fogging every other second, so Judy could see him still breathing. They had cut off all his clothes and put a bright orange mat on the exit wound, the panther pressing on it, while the bear used a small pump to suck the air out of it. When he was finished, the mat was hard as concrete. The panther (his name tag read "Daniel") sighed and nodded, "Let's see if we could stop the bleeding this way – heart?" – "Eighty to fortyfive" the bear shook his head, "he had lost too much blood, Dan!" Dan grabbed the radio and called the hospital, "We are coming in with a male European Fox, a cop, some 25 years old, shot wound lower left abdomen, artery damaged, either splenic or left renal artery, I think. Maybe both. Prepare immediate surgery and we need all blood you have… yeah, a fox, blood type…", he took Nick's name tag off and turned it around, reading what was engraved on the back side, "blood type is B negative, I repeat, Bravo negative." He waited for confirmation, then turned to the bear. "Ok, Phil, attach an IV. Insert some bags of NaCl, it's better than nothing. Heart?" – "Sixty to thirty" – "Shit. Prepare injection with adrenaline, his heart will stop every minute. We can't shock or CPR him, we would just squeeze the last ounce of blood out of the poor fellow."

Judy sobbed quietly. While the ambulance raced through the nearly empty streets of the early morning. While Phil continues to check Nick's life values, the panther wrapped a bandage around Judy's wound in her leg. "Just a scratch", he said. "Thanks… and sorry… about…" He grinned, "Yeah, no problem, I know what a shock is. But, lady, you really scared the shit out of me for a second there. And I thought my ex-wife is bad when she's angry… but you could give her a run for the money!" – "Fifty to thirty!" Phil called. The smile vanished from the panther's face. "Fuck, it's no good. I need to check on the… OH SHIT!" He had opened the valve of the vacuum mat and what felt like half a gallon of blood was splashing on the ambulance's floor. "Damn! We didn't stop the bleeding, it was just pooling in the mat! If I only could close that artery…" The bear shook his head, "Dan, forget it, you won't even find anything in this mess…" – "STOP THE CAR! STOP IT, ERIC!" Dan shouted. Judy had to hold on as the ambulance came to a screeching halt in the middle of an intersection. The beaver at the wheel, Eric, turned around, "Are you insane? We are only two minutes from the hospital…" Dan shook his head, "This poor soul doesn't have two more minutes…" He rolled Nick over, so he was now lying on his front. For the first time Judy could see in full light the huge crater in his back and nausea gripped her.

With his gloved paw he reached inside the wound. Judy had to close her eyes as she saw how deeply he reached in. "Fuck, I can't feel a bit in here…" He pulled his paw out , gripped the glove with his teeth and ripped it off, entering the wound again. Phil gawked, "Man, you can't use your naked paw in a wound…" – "A blood poisoning will be his smallest problem in a minute!", Dan said. He had turned his face away from the wound, looking at Judy, but his eyes were pressed shut, he concentrated alone on what he feeled inside the wound. "Oh man, I can't make out… like minced meat in here… there it is, it comes from here! Fuck, the stub is so short I can't get a grip… Now! Now I have the motherfucker, Phil, give me a clamp, quick! No, no, a small one, I need to close a tiny artery, not moor a zeppelin…" He inserted the second clamp Phil had given him and worked for another ten seconds. Then he holds his breath, not moving, before he slowly retreats his crimson paws. "I think… it stopped!", he sighed and gave Judy a small smile. "Go on, Eric!", he called to the driver. Phil said, "Fifty to twentyfive, unbelievable his heart is still going with such a low pressure…" – "Yeah, he's a tough guy… those foxes die hard. Your partner?", Dan asked Judy. She nodded silently, sniffing, her nose was still running. "Man, I never saw a bunny care for a fox so much…", he grinned, "… must be a nice guy!" – "Yeah, he is…", Judy managed to say, before she started crying again.

Two nurses wheeled Nick down the corridors of the hospital at full speed, Judy trying to hop along with her injured leg. They arrived at a huge waiting room with a reception desk. The room was empty at this time, a nurse was sitting behind the desk. In front of the desk stood a doctor, a wolverine who looked at a clipboard in his claws. "This must be the shot wound, fox…", he took a sheet of paper from a pocket at Nick's bed. It was the report, Dan, the paramedic had signed. It was full of bloody paw prints and the doctor look disgusted, "Man, what did these guys do? The handwriting of that guy is worse than mine and that's something… he has closed an artery with _what?_ A clamp?" He looked puzzled at the two nurses who shrugged before Judy said, "Yes, that's true". The doc looked her up and down, the little bunny covered in dirt and blood, soaking wet, a bloody bandage around her leg. "And you are…" – "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. This is Nick Wilde, my partner, he got shot…" The doctor interrupted her impatiently, "Okay, okay, have you been in the ambulance and saw what the paramedic did?" When she nodded, he sighed, "Man, sometimes I ask myself what our regulations are for…" – "Sir, please, it's my fault, I… kind of convinced them to take me along…" He grunted. "Well, well. I'm Doctor Ironbeard, by the way. You may wait here. We take care of him now. Bring him in the Four and prep him, I'll be there in five minutes. Has the blood for him arrived yet?" The nurse behind the desk nodded, while the two other nurses moved Nick through a swinging door. Judy sighed, but knew it would be no use asking to accompany him. "We got four bags, doc!" – "Just four bags? That wouldn't last one hour. Maybe we should wring out this report and mop up the rest from the ambulance… check the database what the other hospitals in Zootopia have!" The nurse typed for ten seconds, "Six bags, all in Meadowlands!" – "Okay, they should bring them here, arrange for a transport. Hey, cop lady, does this bloke have relatives?" – "No, I don't think so… he has a father, but they are not in contact…" – "That's of no use. Hey, we have this fox nurse, Freddie, Franzi, Filly…" – "You mean Francine?" – "Yeah, whatever. Is she on duty?" More typing, "Yes, but she's AB positive, incompatible!" He sighed and looked back to Judy, "Do you have any more fox friends… or colleagues?" She shook her head in desperation, but then suddenly a face flashed through her mind.

"Wait! I might have… oh, wait a sec!" She looked for her phone, it was wet, but thank god, it still worked. She pressed the speed dial and waited breathlessly until the tired voice of her mom answered. "My goodness, Judy, it's half past one…" – "Mom, please, no questions, this is an emergency, give me Gideon's number, quick!" – "My god… wait… can I access the phone book while I'm talking? Stu, help me here, this darn phone…" The voice of her father, "Contacts, go on contacts, it's in my Business folder!" – "Oh, I hate this phone, wish we still had a note pad… wait, here it is…" The nurse had thrown a small pad and a pencil over the desk, Judy grabbed and and wrote the number down with shaking hands. Meanwhile, the waiting room was entered by four more police officers, Kitty among them. Judy waved them to be silent, then she repeated the number. When her mum confirmed, she pressed the red button without a further word and typed the new number in. Again waiting. A tired voice, "Grey's bakery, we're closed…" – "Gideon, wait, don't hang up, it's me, Judy, Judy Hopps!" The pause was so long that Judy just wanted to dial again when she heard him say, "Wow, Judy, is Zootopia in a different time zone? I just…" – "Gideon, quick, what's your blood type?" – "What?" – "Gideon, listen, it's really urgent, someone may die, please, give me your blood type!" – "I… man, I really… I think, I've no idea…" The nurse called loudly, "On his driver's license, lower left corner!" – "Your driver's license!", Judy repeated, while the other cops look from the nurse back to Judy like in a tennis match. She waited. Everyone looked at her full of anticipation when she whispered "Zero negative…" All hope left Judy and she was ready to cry again, but the doctor grinned, "Yes, yes, zero negative is compatible to B negative!", Her hopes came back but vanished again when the doctor said, "Bring him over, how far is he?" – "In Bunny Burrows…" – "What? Where the fuck is that?" – "It's more than 200 miles away!", the nurse answered, looking sad. "Twohundredseventyfive, to be exact." Kitty grabbed Judy's paw. "If we drive like hell, we could reach him…", she said, but Ironbeard shook his large head, "We have ten bags of blood, if the delivery from Meadowlands arrives in time…", the nurse nodded, "They're on their way!", "… okay, we may last ninety minutes when we operate your friend… maybe two hours when we are careful… no way how you could do 550 miles in two hours. Even with a helicopter… except if the helicopter would already be there… you don't happen to have a police copter in this Bunny Hole…?", the doctor says.

Kitty sighed, "No, we don't even have a police station down there…", but Judy pressed her radio button, "Dispatch, quick, do we have a helicopter based somewhere close to Bunny Burrows? I don't care what it is…" – "Stand by one", a cool female voice said, "No, no official ones… but wait, there is a ranger station five miles north of Bunny Burrows in the mountains…" Both, doctor and nurse nodded and Judy yelled, "I'll take it, quick, give me the pilot…" – "Hey, lady, that's not so easy. The Forest Rangers are not under ZPD jurisdiction and they operate on different radio frequencies. I cannot just…" – "Than put me through a land line, via phone, or whatever, I don't care, but I need to talk to this guy NOW!" Two seconds of silence, then "Wait a sec. I'll try something…"

Forest Ranger Andrew P. Gallagher, jr. loved his job, especially in the early morning hours. The weather was nice, but not too dry, so no risk of forest fires this night. He had his pants down (literally), and the little hut in the mountains had a TV set, a fridge filled with ice cold soft drinks and a large bug sandwich for breakfast. The wolf laid his large feet on his desk and yawned. This was the life! Just when he reached for the remote to check what was on TV, the phone rang. He looked at the clock on his desk: 1:57 am. The phone number on the display was unknown to him, but he recognized the area code of downtown Zootopia. _Who the heck could that be…?_ He stared at the display again. Maybe his ex-wife had moved to Zootopia, the last thing he wanted to hear was her pesky voice, but at this time? After the seventh ring, he grabbed the phone. "Whassup, Andy here!" A female voice replied, crackling sounds overlayed her voice, "Sir, this is Judy Hopps, ZPD. I need your helicopter, now!" – "Okay, gal, what kind of joke is this? I'm in the middle of…" – "Sir, please, listen, it's urgent, I'll need you to pick someone up in Bunny Burrows and bring him directly to General Hospital in Zootopia. Please confirm that!" Andrew shook his head, "You must be out of your mind… wait, Becky, is that you? I won't fall for your stupid jokes again, honey, so…" – "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" the voice yelled and he nearly dropped the receiver. "Hey, are you crazy, you just ripped my ear drum…" – "Okay, pal, now listen to me if you want to keep your pilot's license, the ZPD has just confiscated your helicopter and you will do whatever I tell you, got that?"

The wolf looked at the phone speechless. Was this for Candid Camera or something? He snorted, "Hey lady, no one can confiscate anything here, okay? But your voice sounds cute, so if you want to give me your number, I might call back and…" – "OKAY, MR FOREST RANGER, listen up carefully now! Under jurisdiction of Law Enforcement Act No. 243 I hereby confiscate your helicopter and order you to fly it as I said, my emergency authorization code is Papa-Juliett-Tango-Four-Six-Seven-Yankee-Zulu. The non-compliance with Act No. 243 is a felony and you will be grounded for life time and may go to prison for five years, ARE YOU WRITING THIS DOWN?" – "Shit, wait, wait, wait, no one said something of non-compliance whatever. Okay, gimme the details again…" – "Wait, don't tell me you are a mouse with a tiny helicopter… can you transport a fox?" – "Ma'am, do I sound like a mouse? I am a wolf, fer cryin' out loud and I can carry nearly everything except an elephant!" Fifty seconds later a cursing wolf stormed out of his hut zipping his pants and jumped in the pilot's seat of the helicopter parked on the station's helipad.

When Judy changed back from the radio to her cell, four officers, one doctor and one nurse stared at her with open mouths. "Gideon, are you still there? A helicopter will land near your house, I told him to land on the football field in Tulip Road, got that? Grab a torch and give him light signals. He will bring you to the hospital, okay? I'll explain later, please just do what I told you!" She hung up and dropped back on her chair. "Wow!", the doctor said, "This might work. Get someone up to the helipad, bring that guy directly down here as soon as he arrives", he told the nurse, than turned around and vanished behind the swing door.

Kitty sat next to Judy lying an arm around her, "That was cool! I never heard of this Law Enforcement Act. And when will they give me this cool authorization code to boss around animals?", she asked. Judy shook her head, "Probably never. I made it all up when this macho pilot didn't want to cooperate." The other cops started to laugh but immediately turned silent when the door opened and chief Bogo stomped in. He turned directly to Judy, "What about Nick?" Judy sobbed, "I don't know. He got shot bad in the belly, they are operating him, but he lost so many blood…" Bogo nodded, then looked around. "Man, how I hate this fucking hospital. I lost so many in here…", he cleared his throat when he noticed he had talked loud. "We have identified the two bodies: the deer was a Philip Rittberger, had been in jail twice for car theft, a low light. The panther was Byron 'The Baron' Delacroix, 26 years old, 10 of them in prison. Theft, assault, you name it, he did it. Stood in court twice for murder but they could not convict him. Looks like he was number two of that gang, he had not been the brightest, his brother Frank is the mastermind. One of the pumas, he's only sixteen, started talking when we played good cop – bad cop on him. We know where they hide, but we have to act quickly."

Everyone looked at the chief, ready to go, but he shook his head. "A raid like that is a little too big for us street cops. I called the Zoomers for that!" Even Judy looked up full of estonishment when Bogo mentioned the ZOOtopia Mobile Emergency Response Squad, Zoomers for short, a highly trained, heavily armed squad of elite soldiers, all predators. "Thanks to you, Judy, and Nick of course, we are now close to clean up this entire mess. I'm sorry to bother you with this, Judy, but you know the rules, you shot someone and until Internal Affairs have not justified the use of lethal force, you are suspended on full pay." Judy nodded weakly. "You others, go back to work. You can't do anything here. MacMahon, you'll stay with Hopps. Inform me as soon as he… I mean, as soon as you have news."

Quietly, they left the reception room. Kitty and Judy were alone with the nurse, when suddenly a paramedic stormed in with a white cooling box in his paws. "Delivery from Meadowlands!", he yelled out. On the lid someone had scribbled "Vulpes V. B (neg) 6u 475ml". The nurse nodded, "We waited for it. I'll bring it in!" Judy checked the clock. 2:12 am. Unbelievable, one and a half hour ago the world had been a complete different on, she and Nick sitting in their car, joking around… She couldn't help but started to cry again while Kitty held her, saying "There, there…".

In a room close by, Nick fought for his life. The night were not over yet, and Nick was about to enter a darkness that would even last much longer. He didn't knew yet, but to get out of that kind of darkness he would need help from strange allies…


	13. Chapter 13 - The Story of the Cat

**Chapter 13 – The Story of the Cat**

Judy and Kitty sat alone in the waiting area after the nurse had left her place at the reception desk to bring the cooling box in the operation room. "I need to call my mom", Judy said and took out her cell, "I bet she's still awake after I called for Gideon's number." She was right, she had barely pushed the button when she heard the worried voice of her mother. "Judy, darling, for god's sake, what happened? A helicopter landed downtown… had it something to do with Gideon?" – "Yes, mom, we needed Gideon here at the hospital, because…" – "Hospital?" her mother interrupted, "Are you in the hosiptal? Are you hurt?" – "It's not for me, I am not hurt… I mean, just a little…" – "What, you are hurt? I am coming over right now! Stu, where are the keys for the car?" Judy breathed deeply, "No, mom, wait! Don't come here, please! It's just a little scratch on my leg, I am doing fine, but Nick… Nick is… we need Gideon here to donate blood for Nick – he got shot, and…" – "Dear, dear, I have no idea what you are babbling about… who got shot? Gideon?" – "NO MOM, NICK!" – "Who is this Nick you are talking about?", "Mom, please, Nick Wilde, my partner! The guy I'm working with from day one! I told you about him!" She sighed, than, slowly added, "The fox." – "Ahh, the fox… I didn't know his name was Nick… what happened, did you have an accident? They are all driving like crazy in this town…" – "No mom, he got shot! By a criminal!", Judy shouted in her phone, "Goodness gracious, Judy, I told you that job is far too dangerous! Will you resign now? I mean, thinking that someone tried to hurt you, on purpose…" – "No, mom, I will not resign, rest assured. I knew from the start that this could happen. I just… it's just that Nick…" How on earth could she explain the relationship between Nick and her to her mom? She wished she had done that earlier but she had been afraid of the reaction. Maybe her mother would understand her, but dad… that's something different.

"Nick… they are operating him now, and I'm afraid, he had looked really bad when they brought him here and he has lost so much blood and they don't have enough blood and Gideon could donate blood so I have arranged a helicopter and… and… and…", she started sobbing again, "… mom, we're friends, he really means a lot to me…" – "Shhht, my darling, don't cry… of course you like that fox, you are working with him all the time!" Judy gave up. As long as Nick would be just 'that fox' to her parents, there was no use in talking about loving him. "Judy, I do sincerely hope that your colleagues will catch that criminal and put him behind bars!" – "No, they won't", Judy said calmly. Her voice had suddenly changed so much, that her mom believed for an instant there was someone else talking on the phone. Never before the voice of her daughter had sound so hard and so cold. Even Kitty looked up astonished. "They won't", she said again, "He's rotting in hell right now. I made sure of this myself!" There was a pause. Then the panicking voice of her mother, "Judy, you don't… I mean… you have not really _killed_ someone, have you?" – "Of course not, it was self-defense…" – "Judy, I want you to quit this horrid job and come home immediately. I have not raised you to watch you become one of those degenerated murderers…" – "MOM, SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! If I hadn't shot this guy, I would be dead now and Nick, too! You can't tell me that you would like that, do you?" She heard her mother crying on the phone, then she said slowly, "Thou shalst not kill. This is what I have taught you." – "Yeah, great, mom, tell that to this maniac who shot one of his own gang members for some lousy dollars!" She pressed the red button, slammed the phone back in her pocket and started to cry again.

She sat on the floor, weeping and sobbing when suddenly a soft and warm paw stroke over her head. Judy had nearly forgotten that Kitty was with her. She stood up and pressed her wet face against the belly of the young feline. So they stood for a minute or two until Judy got a grip on herself. They sat down on the bench in front of the reception desk again. "Sorry, I messed up your uniform", said Judy. "No problem. I know how mother could be. At least your parents still talk to you. My mother doesn't even pick up the phone when she sees my number." – "Really? But why? You had a fight?" Kitty nodded and smiled sadly, "Yeah, some difference about my career planning…" Judy was glad to get distracted from her problems a little, so she asked, "Why have you joined ZPD? I have heard you had been a quite successful model!" The cat hesitated, then took off her badge and opened the small leather pocket on the back. Most officers had something private in there, a photo of their parents (as Judy had) or of their spouse and kids. Kitty took out something that looked like a folded old newspaper article. Reluctantly she handed it over. "Please, Judy, promise me not to laugh…" – "I promise, Kitty, believe me, I'm not in the mood", she took it and unfolded it… and looked at her own face. It was the article from the Zootopia Standard about her graduation from Police Academy. Under her official graduation photo she read _FIRST BUNNY GRADUATE HONORED FOR BEING TOP OF CLASS_. Judy looked puzzled but Kitty started talking before she could ask any questions.

"You are right, I was a model then. If someone had asked me at that time, I would have said it was my dream job, I traveled around the world, earned a lot of money, met fancy movie stars… but one day, I was booked for a fashion show in Zootopia, me and some thirty other models sat in the wardrobe getting our make-up. Nearly all top models are felines, you know, and suddenly one of them laughed out loudly while reading the paper. 'They made a little bunny a cop – you won't believe that shit!' she said and passed the paper around. Everyone was laughing, some even thought it was a joke, that they would never do such a ridiculous thing. I am ashamed to say that I laughed, too. But then I got the paper and looked at the picture – and I understood. There you were, looking in the camera with so much pride, so much determination, you looked like the happiest being on earth and like nothing could stop you. I took the paper, got up and left the room, leaving all my belongings behind – and I never came back."

Judy looked at her in utter astonishment, "But… but why did you do that? It is just a stupid picture, I remember when they took it, it was just minutes before I had to deliver my speech as first of year and I was so nervous that I nearly puked in the camera…", Kitty interrupted her, "Judy, when have you decided you want to become a cop?" – "I think, I was five… yeah, in my pre-school year, we had a small play to perform and I even yelled it out loud on stage – my parents were so embarrassed…" Kitty nodded, "And how many times have you heard that it would be impossible?" Judy laughed bitterly, "If they gave me a dime for every time I would be the richest person alive!" Kitty nodded, "But you did it, you made it, you showed them all by becoming the best of the class!" Judy shook her head, "But Kitty, you did the same, didn't you? Half of the girls in my class wanted to be a model, you made it, so you must have been determined, too!" Kitty sighed, "My mom, she was determined. When she was young, she was very beautiful, homecoming queen, cheerleader captain, you know the deal. But she never made the final step, she attended a model school but she only got two or three small jobs and then my dad came, made her pregnant and gone he was again. So, she projected her dream on me. It was model, model, model from day one."

Judy looked at Kitty, she still couldn't understand why she had joined ZPD but didn't dare to ask as tears were streaming down Kitty's face. "For my tenth bithday I got a cosmetic surgery for my nose, my mom though it was too big. When I was twelve, she arranged for me a model trainer, three times a week. She worked three jobs to pay him. He taught me nine hours a week to walk like a model, talk like a model, dress like a model… oh, yes, and one week after my thirteenth birthday he started fucking me." – "Oh my god, Kitty, how… what did your mom say? You have told her, haven't you?" – "Not at first, I thought it would pass, but it hurt so much and he wanted more and more… one day, after I had spent the entire training in the bath tub with him doing so… so many… horrible things…" – "Please, Kitty, you don't have to tell me if it hurts you so much…" Kitty nodded, getting a handkerchief out of her pocket and blew her nose. "No, really, Judy, I have never talked to anyone about this and… I should have done this earlier… however, after that day, I ran home crying, telling my mom, but she just reminded me that this guy had the best contacts in the model world and he would be my ticket to a splendid career and so on, and so on… I begged her, but I had no chance, her dream was at stake. I skipped next training and when she found out she beat me half to dead. She told me I had to suck it all up, that what she did all her life, suck it all up."

Judy shook her head, "And you had no one…" – "No, I never had time for friends and the other girls at school thought of me as the high nose model bitch. He kept his promise and I started with my first model jobs at age fifteen. When success came, mom made me leave school, and when this asshole of model teacher told her that my breasts are getting too large and that I looked like a porn star, she got a loan to have my boobies reduced… She asked me every day, what I have learned and one day I told her in a sweet voice 'Oh mom, today your precious teacher taught me how to lick his balls and blow his cock and he made sure I swallowed every last drop, so I did what you told me… I sucked it all up!' She beat me so hard, I was sure she would kill me. I had bruises all over my body and had to cancel three photo shootings – man, she was mad about that!"

Kitty laughed, "Oh man, these sob stories really are bad, aren't they? But back to the day I saw your pic in the paper, I took a cab directly to ZPD, filled out the application form, passed the test – barely, to be honest – then threw a letter in my moms box that I quit that shit model career to become a police officer. I would have paid to see her face, but I didn't dare waiting it. She reacted quickly, however, when I tried to get same cash from my savings account, it had already been emptied by her – more than 90,000 bucks gone, but I gave a shit. I was lucky, the next class at Police Academy started four days from that day and when they asked me if I could join so early because some candidates dropped out, I said yes. So I walked in Academy with 3 bucks in my pocket and a plastic bag with a toothbrush and two sets of underwear – that was all I had. I was far from being best of the year, but they put me in district 1, together with you guys. And there you were, the smallest but hardest cop in town, together with Nick and you two were not looking down on me, on that meager cat that did everything wrong. I envied you two for being such perfect partners, man, you even beat up a bear _and_ a wolf at the same time…" – "Oh, Kitty, that story is completely…" – "No, I know you're much too humble, I'll bet Bogo had your names down for being the first team to get Team of the Month thrice in a row. So, now you know, I spit it all out, I want to be as cool as you are and I would be so glad if we could be friends – you can laugh now, if you want to."

Judy hugged Kitty with both arms. "I would never laugh about that. You _are_ cool, much cooler than me, and you _are_ my friend… and Nick likes you a lot, too, I know. And I think, you'll be a great cop one day."

"Thanks, Judy. Thanks for listening and thank you for the things you just said. It means a lot to me. Oh, shit, man, look at us. Here we are, the two toughest cop bitches of Zootopia sitting here, crying their hearts out.", Kitty laughed, "I bet my face looks like shit. Can I leave you alone here for a minute, so I can get to the restroom?" Before Judy could answer, she was gone. Judy took a deep breath. Man, and she had thought, her life was hard! She thought of calling her mom again to apologize for being so hard to her. Suddenly her fight with her seemed so insignificant. But before she could even grab her phone, the doors smashed open and two nurses stormed in followed by a grinning fox and a furious wolf in ranger uniform. But as soon as Gideon Grey saw Judy in her blood and dirt covered uniform the grin vanished from his face. "My, Judy… what happened? Oh my god, you are injured!" – "Gideon, please, my partner Nick is hurt, they need blood for him and you happen to have a compatible blood type! Would you donate blood for him?" Gideon immediately nodded, "Of course, Judy, of course… wow, I just had my first helicopter ride…" The nurse from the reception desk came back and immediately rushed to Gideon reaching for his paw. "Hello… ouch!", he yelled, when the nurse pricked him with a small needle. "Don't be such a sissy…", she said and squeezed a drop of blood from the tiny wound on a small card. She waited and stared on the card where Gideon's blood changed the color of some marked fields. She nodded. "Yes, confirmed, he's zero negative. Sir, we bring you in the operation room and hook you directly up to our patient. Would you please sign this form, sir?" Poor Gideon walked through the door with the nurse before he could say more.

Now Judy was alone with the pilot who looked at her in disbelief. "Is you that cop that ordered me here?", he wanted to know. _Nick was right, the days of good grammar has went,_ Judy thought. "Yes, me is. I am officer Judy Hopps and I want to thank you…", but the angry wolf interrupted her, "Thank you, my arse! I don't know what you are thinking, why you have pulled this stunt on me, but I had a conversation with my boss o'er the radio and there is no Law Enforcement Act whatever that can make you ordering me around! I don't believe it, a tiny bunny! I don't know, sweetheart, if you really are a cop, but believe me, when I am done with you, you won't be! Who will pay for the fuel I burned while given that stupid retard of a fox the joyride of his life? I tell you what…", but in this moment, Kitty came back from the restroom. As soon as the wolf had seen her, he stopped in mid sentence, gawking at the cat that immediately run to him and gripped both his paws with hers. "Ohhh, you must be that brave forest ranger who took the risk of bringing this very important fox over here, but look at silly me, I haven't even introduced myself to you!", she gave him her broadest smile and his eyes get bigger and bigger while he said, "Er… yes, but…" – "Oh, I am officer Katherine MacMahon, ZPD, and we were so desperate as we couldn't get a chopper in time that I told my assistant here," she pointed at Judy without looking at her, "… to use one of my little tricks. If I just had known what a handsome and courageous pilot you are, I would have told you the truth directly and I am sure you would have understood our situation and come to our help, wouldn't you?" The wolf looked even more confused with Kitty talking rapidly at him, but then he smiled stupidly and said, "Yeah… I suppose… but still, I need…" – "Oh, and I forgot to tell you, you have probably saved the life of another cop with your heroic flight and I bet that they will award you some sort of medal, but as the fox you have saved is a very close friend of mine, I will show you how grateful I am…" and she grabbed his face with both paws and kissed him fully on his lips. When she finally let him go after some fifteen seconds his eyes had gone out of focus. "I think, I'll get you a nice cup of coffee down in the cafeteria, won't you come?", she said, took his arm, turned him around and steered him to the door, not without turning around to Judy and winking with an eye.

As soon as they were gone, the nurse came back. "It was in the nick of time. They ran out of blood ten minutes ago and it looked grim, but now your friend arrived and we started transferring blood one minute ago. I am sorry, but I couldn't tell you more.", she said. Judy thanked her and sank back on her seat. 4:33 am. Half an hour later, when Kitty came back, it seemed like Judy has really fallen asleep for some minutes. Kitty rubbed her eyes and yawned when she sat next to Judy. "Man, this wolf would have eaten you alive… if we ever need his fingerprints CSI could take them from every part of my body. These pilots really are high on testosterone." – "Thanks for handling him for me!", she said. Kitty nodded, "No prob. I just called the chief to tell him that we have no news yet."

Judy woke up when she heard the door. Embarrassed she noticed that she had slept on Kitty's lap. Kitty was sleeping, too, her head bent backwards, mouth wide open, snoring. Judy checked the clock, 5:44 am. Nurses came and went, as the change to the day shift at six was imminent. Curiously she looked at one nurse who had just started her shift by holding her badge to a small clock next to the door. She was a bunny, too, and Judy hadn't seen so many bunnies in Zootopia yet. When the nurse noticed her, her face lightened up and she came hopping to her. "Are you Judy Hopps, the bunny cop?", she asked and Judy was surprised as her voice sounded so familiar and except for the eyes (they were blue) it was nearly like looking in the mirror. "Yeah, I am.", she managed to say. "Oh, this is so cool, I've read everything about you, it's not like we have many bunnies making the papers here. I may call you Judy, okay? But you look a mess, have you been hurt?" Judy explained the situation in short words and the nurse gasped, "Oh, my, you mean Nick Wilde, your partner, the fox? He is being operated right now?" – "You know him?", Judy was confused as she had not said his name, "Of course, I've read every article on the Savage Case! To be honest, I've cut them all out, still have them in my drawer… but I talk and talk and haven't even introduced myself. I'm Bren. Bren Therault from Nuthanger. Do you know Nuthanger? No one does. Technically, it is part of Bunny Burrows, but it is so far out and only four families live there, all cabbage farmers, you know? I'm the first nurse in the family and the first who'd left Nuthanger and moved to the big city!" – "That sounds familiar", said Judy, "I am the first cop in a carrot farmer family…" – "I know that", smiled Bren, "I've seen your parents once when I visited Bunny Burrows three weeks ago!"

In this moment, Kitty woke up and looked confused at the two bunnies. But before she could ask, the door next to the reception opened and out came Dr. Ironbeard, looking extremely exhausted. Judy ran straight to him, "Doctor, please, what about Nick?" The wolverine shook his large head and said "I am sorry, officer…" and Judy felt her heart burst. But then, he continued, "… we are only allowed to give information on patient's status to close relatives. I will sent a report to his superior, that…", he checked his clipboard, "… chief Bogo of ZPD. Maybe this evening or maybe tomorrow. And now excuse me, I had a long night…" Judy was in shock. For an instant, she had thought that the worst has happened and now this guy won't even talk to her! "Sir, please, I need to know…" – "Listen, officer, I have my rules as you have yours. We only talk to close relatives. And don't tell me you are related to a fox!" He turned around and walked away. Judy was desperate. Her tired mind raced and without further thinking she called after him, "Doctor, wait! I am… I mean, Nick and me are… we are engaged!" The doctor stopped. Suddenly it was totally silent in the room, the nurses all looked open mouthed at Judy and she only looked at Ironbeard who slowly turned around to her. Behind her she heard Kitty's excited voice, "I knew it! I – so – fucking – KNEW – it!" The doctor looked at her, then he sighed, "Please, follow me."

Doctor Ironbeard had a small office full of medical books, he even had to take one pile off the visitor's chair. He sat behind his desk, took off his glasses and started rubbing his eyes. "Miss Hopps, I am not the youngest anymore and old prejudices are hard to fight. I perfectly know that some animals may fall in love outside their species, it happened here and there, especially in a place like this where life and death are so close together and emotions run high all the times. You know, there is a reason for most soap operas being situated in hospitals. If anyone else had told me that a bunny and a fox, not only different species, but prey and predator, want to marry, I would have called him a liar." Judy opened her mouth, but the doc stopped her with a raised paw. "But you are a police officer and if I can't trust YOU, this city will really go down the drain." He checked his watch. "I have operated your fiancee for three and a half hours. In thirty years of surgery I have never seen such a mess and I had to improvise a lot during this. But you are interested in the facts: First, he is still alive." Judy sighed and tears started to run over her cheeks again, "Your other fox friend, Mr Grey, came in the very last moment, we took as much blood from him as we dared – and then, even more as he insisted on going on donating until he lost consciousness. So now he is hospitalized, too, until he feels better. A brave young fox, I must say. Taking such a high risk… but back to Mr Wilde. After we could sclerose his splenic artery that caused the heavy bleeding, we tried to repair the damage, but in the end we had to remove his spleen and his left kidney. The bullet had scratched his spine and it is difficult to say if it caused damage, we will find out if he wakes up. He may be paralyzed, but it is too early to say anything about that. His intestines had been damaged and we had to do an ileostomy – an artificial rectum. If your fiancee survives, we may be able to repair his intestines in a later operation and to remove this. On long term, we also need to replace the lost tissue in his lower back region by taking tissue from his leg, reproducing it in the lab and then insert it in the hole in his back – but this is far in the future."

The doctor was silent now and Judy had to swallow hard. This was a long list, but at least Nick was alive. "Could you give me… I mean, will he… what are the odds that he will survive this?" The doctor gave her a sad smile. "Miss Hopps, this is not a TV hospital sitcom. Real doctors won't give you odds like for a soccer game. I'll be honest to you as you seem to be a tough lady; when he came in tonight I wouldn't had bet a single dime on him. But he seems to attract miracles." – "Pardon me?" He layed back in his chair and closed his eyes, "Miracle number one, he didn't die when he was shot. The bullet must have been huge and most animals I know would have died from the shock instantly. Then, I estimate his blood loss to be more than forty percent and that he survived that – miracle number two. He survived because that crude operation in the ambulance stopped most of the bleeding. That paramedic saved his life, but I don't think this technique will ever find its way in the handbooks. The thought of that huge panther paw inside that tiny foxes body makes me shiver. But he survived it, there you have it, miracle number three. Number four, your blood donating friend arriving on time, number five, he survived that operation. During this, we had a very critical moment, his heart had stopped for more than three minutes and when I just was about to turn off the lights, he came back – miracle number six. And as we just see the sunrise and my phone here is still silent, make that number seven. So, to survive on the long term, he will need three or four more miracles. And now you tell me, what are the odds on that?" Judy nodded and blew her nose, "Thanks, doctor, I think I understood. What are you doing with him now?" – "He had been put in an artificial coma and brought to intensive care. We can't do more for him now, we'll have to wait and see… how things develop. I would suggest you to go home and get some sleep. We'll have to wait at least 48 hours before we know more. Leave your number, I'll call you as soon as… things change."

Slowly she walked back to the reception room where she found Bren and Kitty talking agitatedly to each other, mostly at the same time. When they saw her, they looked at her inquisitively. She gave a short report of what Ironbeard said and asked Kitty to drive her home. She couldn't remember taking her clothes off and showering but when she awoke at 3 pm, she smelled of soap and her stained uniform was in a plastic bag. She switched on her phone, still lying in bed and turned it off again immediately when she saw 67 messages on it, but none from the hospital.


	14. Chapter 14 - The Hearing

**Chapter 14 – The Hearing**

Judy took another long shower, dressed and found to her surprise that she was quite hungry, so she made herself a very late breakfast. Then she called her parents. Her dad was on the phone, but he couldn't say much more than "Hello…", before her mom snatched the receiver out of his hand. She was sobbing and Judy needed some attempts before she could make out what she was saying. "Oh, Judy, we saw it on TV, the evening paper is full of you and your partner… I am so sorry, I should have listened to you, I said so many bad things…" – "Forget it mom, it's okay, it was my fault, I was so tired and so… I don't know… I was so worried about Nick…" After they finally finished crying and apologizing to each other, she told her parents in detail what happened and how Nick was doing. They had a lot of questions and all of Bunny Burrows was abuzz about the helicopter landing in the middle of the night. "Man, I really have underestimated that Gideon…", her father said, "… he is a real hero!" Judy smiled, "Yes, he saved Nick's life for sure, the doctor even said he insisted on giving more blood than the maximum, so he passed out and they had to keep him in hospital!"

After she hung up it was half past four. She took the subway to the police department and made sure to get a newspaper at the station.

 _From Zootopia Standard, Saturday, June 6_ _th_ _, late edition_

POLICE RAIDS MEADOWLANDS – CAR THEFT THUGS ARRESTED  
TWO OFFICERS WOUNDED IN SHOOTING

 **Meadowlands/Rain Forest District** – _For nearly a month police was baffled by a group of criminals stealing high class automobiles. But in the early hours of today, the entire group could be handcuffed in what the police called 'greatest raid against organized crime' in Zootopia's history. As police chief Magnus S. Bogo told in a press conference at ZPD headquarters at noon today, two police officers had finally managed to find a camouflaged car transport in the industrial area near the Fruit Market in Rain Forest District. According to chief Bogo, an individuum named Byron 'The Baron' Delacroix (panther, 26) haggled with a group of car thieves, killing one Philipp Rittberger (deer, 44) in the process. A shoot-out with the two cops followed, Delacroix got killed while both officers were wounded, one of them severely. Two other thieves, twin brothers Bastian and Jerome Guitierrez (19, pumas) were arrested and informed the police during interrogation of the whereabouts of the rest of the gang._

 _At four in the morning, ZPD together with Zootopia Mobile Emergency Response Squad ('Zoomers') have raided a desolated industrial complex in Meadowlands. After 'a brief fight with two minor injuries' all culprits were in cuffs and 109 cars were seized. After close examination those will be given back to their rightful owners. Mayor Arthur B. Lionheart attended the press conference as well and explicitly thanked the ZPD for 'the excellent and professional work'. Chief Bogo added that without the discovery of the injured officers, 'this success would have been impossible.' Officer Judith E. Hopps (22) had already be kind of famous after finishing Police Academy not only as first bunny ever but also as first of her class. Later, she had uncovered almost single-handedly the so called 'Savage Conspiracy' bringing former assistant mayor Bellwether (sheep, 39) in jail. Officer Hopps was injured, but according to a spokesman from Zootopia General Hospital she had left said Hospital in the early morning hours. Her partner, however, officer Nicholas P. Wilde (26), Zootopia's first ever fox cop who was also involved in solving the Savage Conspiracy, is still in intensive care, being 'in a critical state', as chief Bogo said. Bogo reminded the press that he was heavily criticized partnering up two animals so different, 'but now, I hope, everyone sees the advantage: their different talents and abilities adding up have made this huge arrest possible. We owe them a lot. I am proud to have these two in my troop and I ask everyone of you to join in my prayers for officer Wilde to get better soon', Bogo added. He also praised the good cooperation between the ZPD and the Zoomers which had made the raid such a great success._

When Judy entered the ZPD headquarters she received a lot of pats on her shoulders and approving nods from her colleagues. Everyone asked about Nick and she tried to make the few things she knew sound as optimistic as possible. In Bogo's office, she repeated everything the doctor had told her. Then, she told him in full detail what happened this morning. Bogo listened, asked some questions then nodded. He reminded her to get the report finished as the official hearing of Internal Affairs would be conducted Monday at noon. "I know that this doesn't mean much at the moment… but I want you to know that you and Nick are team of the month again. Oh, and the mayor wants to talk to you, too, and he instructed me to keep him informed regarding Nick's health status. I wonder how you get these hospital bureaucrats to spill out the details about Nick, they usually only inform relatives…", Judy said nothing while panic started to rise in her body. How would Bogo react to her having a love affair with Nick? But she was spared as he just grinned and said, "… but as I just learned from officer MacMahon that you have managed to 'borrow' a helicopter from the Forest Rangers, I think you are able to talk anyone into anything. Don't worry, I have sent a warm thank you mail to the Forest Ranger's Office and set the Mayor in cc, so I hope that will smooth things up. How is your leg?" Judy assured him that it was just a scratch, then she was dismissed.

She went down in the garage where Nick has parked his car. He had left the keys inside. He always complained about the car being so small but now it was an advantage for Judy; she just needed to move the seat in most forward position and moved the cushion from the passenger seat and she could drive his car. She drove to the hospital. As she knew that she couldn't see Nick in IC, she asked the nurse for Gideon Grey's room number. He was lying in bed, looking very pale but happy. He had an IV connected to his left arm. The fox stretched out his paw but Judy ignored it, hugged him and placed a kiss on his nose, which put some color back into him. "I thank you so much! You have saved Nick's life and you even volunteered to give more blood when the doc wanted you to stop. I can't say how proud I am, oh, and my parents said the same and send their warmest greetings." He gave her a sheepish smile, "Gee, Judy, thanks, I don't know what to say… I am glad I could help…" When she asked him, how he was doing, he smiled again, "Oh, not too bad, not too bad, I am still a bit dizzy… but they are really taking good care of me here…" The door opened and Judy saw what he meant; a smiling vixen nurse walked in carrying a tablet overloaded with all kinds of food, sweets and a tea pot that contents smelled suspiciously of beer. She had huge eyes shimmering in a bright yellow and she seemed unable to turn them away from Gideon's face. "Here, I think I managed to get all you wanted, even the…", she suddenly realized that Judy was in the room, too, "… even this… special isotonic… drink, er, tea, you had requested…" She put the tablet on his table, blushing in exactly the same way he did just seconds ago. "Erm, Francine, meet Judy, we've been to school together, she's the daughter of my friend and business partner. Judy, this is Francine, she's… yeah, she's a nurse, of course, you can see that…" As both foxes were blushing again, she couldn't help but smile and just wanted to leave them alone when Francine's eyes get even bigger, "Oh, Judy, of course, Bren told me all about you, she said she wanted to know as soon as you are here… wait, I'll be right back!" She rushed out and forty seconds later the door smashed open and in hopped a bunny crashing full tilt in Judy squeezing all air out of her. Bren rubbed her nose against Judy's as if they had been friends forever and for reasons unknown to herself, Judy was totally okay with this. Gideon stared at them, "Are you… are you sisters?", he asked, "No. Not related, at least I don't know if we could be… we're just friends!", Judy explained and feeled her paw got pressed passionately. "Okay, Judy, when you are finished in here…", Bren said. "Well, I think I am, see you later, Gideon!", Judy said while Bren pulled her to the door. Gideon just said "Yeah…", but couldn't get his eyes from Francine.

Bren raced Judy through some corridors, then opened a door marked 'Staff only' with her badge, checked left and right, then pushed Judy inside a locker room. "I need to give you a different outfit, you know, normally visitors are not allowed in the Intensive Care Station… good thing we have the same size." She opened a locker door and Judy stared at the name tag 'Berenike H. Therault'. When the nurse noticed she sighed, "Yes, now you know why I prefer Bren, don't you? My parents had a fine sense of humour, no one can pronounce that one right, it's Bear-eh-knee-keh, stress on the knee, tee-hee!" – "Why don't you use your middle name, then?", Judy asked but Bren gave her a dry laugh, "Seriously, I was named after my great-grandmother… promise me you won't tell anyone!" After Judy promised, Bren looked around again even though the locker room was empty. Then she said in a low voice, "Hyzenthlay". Judy tried to make a serious face and nodded, "Yeah, I think Bren sounds much better, though…" – "You bet!", Bren replied and took out a white nurse outfit. "Here, put this over", she said.

They walked down a corridor with numbered windows left and right until they reached no. 787. "There he is.", Bren just said. The room behind the window was dimly lit, but she could see Nick lying strapped on a special bed. He was on his belly, his head was fixed in a hole so his face looked downward on the floor. He still wore tongue depressor, tubus and oxygen mask. He had no blanket, the hole in his back was covered with a huge sterile cover. Some transparent tubes came out of the wound, transporting pus and blood in three plastic bags. The usual screen displayed his blood pressure and heart rate. Judy could faintly hear the beeps from his heart and the hiss from the breathing apparatus. There was a covered bulge on his right side and Judy guessed that to be the artificial rectum the doctor had spoken of.

"Oh, Nick…", she felt tears streaming down her face again. "It is true, isn't it?", Bren asked carefully, "You two… really are engaged!" – "I… I don't know, we have never talked about marrying, but we love each other and the doctor won't tell me anything if not…", Judy sniffed. "Shhh, don't say more, I won't tell anyone! That is soooo awesome – and so romantic! A fox! When you told old Ironbeard, I couldn't believe it, but that cute kitty cop told me that you two are so close that she had suspected something like that… He really must be special…" – "Oh, yes, he is! I have never met anyone like him and… if he… I mean, WHEN he gets out, I'll marry him and I don't care if the whole world is against this!", Judy said determined, "Yes!" Bren was so excited, she hopped up and down, "Yes, you will! If anyone will make it, then you two… oh, Judy, can I be the bridesmaid, please?" Still crying, Judy laughed and nodded, "Sure… but this might take a while…" Bren took out a small tablet computer from her pocket and punched in some numbers. "Okay… here we have him… Nicholas P. Wilde… ah, that damn computer gives an alarm because we are missing some data… can you give me his birth date and address?" – "Of course, he is born March 6th in 1989 and lives 1955 Cypress Grove Lane.", Judy said. "Cool, now I can switch that stupid alarm off.", Bren replied and typed in the data. Then, she changed the pages. "Okay, his values have improved, he is stable, but the open wound is still dangerous, if it will get infected, it will be a real problem… so, his overall state is still 'critical' in here, but the tag 'imminent life danger' has been removed, that's some good news.", she smiled and Judy nodded. "Thank you for letting me take a look at him!" – "Of course, anytime, hey, give me your cell number, call me before you come here, than I'll arrange this again, okay? But a stunt like this can only be performed on weekends or at night, there are too many people running around here otherwise…"

She drove home and went directly to bed. On Sunday morning, she got up at 9 am. She wrote the report and sent it to Bogo via smartphone, then drove over to Nick's apartment to check if everything there was allright. Fortunately, he had told her where he had hidden a spare key. After having lunch in a restaurant close by, she went back and wasted the afternoon away by watching TV on Nick's big screen, when Bren called to inform her, that Nick's state had improved even further during the day and that Dr. Ironbeard had decided to operate him again on Monday morning. They wanted to get tissue from Nick's leg in order to create a filling for the hole in his back. If everything went well, they also wanted to repair his colon. Gideon had volunteered to stay in the hospital and had donated more blood for Nick. Judy thanked Bren, then called her parents and Kitty to spread the good news. When she was finally done, it had gotten late and she decided to sleep in Nick's bed. Engulfed in the wonderful fox smell of his sheets and covers she slept deeply and dreamless until 6 am on Monday morning. She took a long bath in Nick's huge jacuzzi, then drove to her apartment and dressed in her uniform. At noon the hearing began.

The Department of Internal Affairs had sent five members in all sizes from a gerbil to an elephant. The three bigger members of the delegation had taken place at the table while the two smaller mammals were sitting on the table, all of them had tablet computers. Opposite of them, Bogo and Judy were sitting. Judy's report was read aloud then she was asked about some details. The spokesman of the delegation, a jaguar, took a remote from the table, "Officer Hopps, we have seized the footage from five surveillance cameras around the crime scene. Our experts have cut together the material from the two best positioned cams, so we have quite a good overview over the events." He pushed a button and Judy looked at the big flat screen. The four criminals could be seen quite clearly. The cops were hidden behind a car. When she saw the panther shooting the deer, Judy had to look away. For some strange reasons, viewing this on TV made it more real for her, as if her own memories of the event were like a nightmare. Then, the jaguar paused the tape. "Here we see the panther jerking around, firing on the car where you and officer Wilde are hidden… have you any idea why he had discovered you?" – "Sir, he said he had smelled a bunny." The jaguar looked at the other four, they all nodded. He continued with the tape. When they reached the point where Nick jumped out of cover, crossing the street, he paused again. "You knew at that time, that other units were on the way to your position. But you decided to change position. Why?" – "Sir, we practically had no cover. The panther shot with a large gun, the bullets went right through the car we were hiding behind. It was sheer luck that we hadn't got hit at that time. Nick… I mean, officer Wilde thought we could force the others out of their cover when crossfiring from two sides." Again, all nodded. They saw the rest of the tape but Judy didn't wanted to see it and looked to the side. The jaguar switched the screen off and took out a set of two small speakers. He connected it to his tablet. "I found that one here rather interesting…", he said and pushed a button. It was the radio traffic between Judy, Nick and headquarters. At first they heard Nick's call for reinforcements, the shots from the panther could be heard loudly in the background. Some seconds later, her own hysteric voice echoed through the room: "Ambulance, ambulance, quick, officer Wil… Wilde is d… d… down!" Judy looked to the floor when she heard her screaming voice only some forty seconds later: "WHERE IS THAT FUCKING AMBULANCE? I CALLED FOR AN AMBULANCE FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO!" The jaguar switched off the speakers. "Officer Hopps, you have been… let's say, quite agitated after your partner was shot… would you agree?" – "Yes, sir." – "And you shot Mr Delacroix, the panther, while you were agitated?" – "Sir, he tried to shoot officer Wilde in the head!" – "That was not my question. Have you been agitated when you fired?" – "Yes, sir." – "And you had to leave your cover for shooting him?" – "Yes, sir." – "And you did that even though you had been well aware that the other two guys would be able to hit you?" – "Yes, sir." – "Why?" – "Sir, please, my partner was in imminent danger of being shot in the head, I… I had no choice!" – "Do you care for him?" At this point, Bogo intervened, "Every cop on the street does care for his partner – that's a basic fact, the teams won't work without that complete trust between the team members." – "Thanks, chief, for this precise insight. But we have asked officer Hopps." – "Yes, sir, I do!" – "Even though you are a bunny and he is a fox, an animal, a predator, to be exact, that can be called your natural enemy?" Bogo stood up, "I can't see why this is coming up here. We want to find out if the lethal force officer Hopps had used against Mr Delacroix was necessary or not. She was protecting her partner. No one here cares what species he is!" – "Chief Bogo, please! One more interjection and you will have to leave this room! Officer?" – "Yes, sir." The jaguar looked at her confused, "Yes, sir, what?" – "Yes, I care for him, and yes, I don't care if he is a fox or not." – "Is it true you have been with him in the ambulance during his transport to the hospital?" Judy was confused by that sudden change of subject, "Yes, sir." – "You do know, do you, that this is unusual and against regulations?" – "Yes, sir, but I wanted to stay with him." – "Officer Hopps, do you see officer Wilde as a friend of yours?" – "Yes, sir, I certainly do!" – "And may this friendship have clouded your senses when deciding to put a bullet in Mr Delacroix' head instead of, let's say, his legs to immobilize him?" – "Sir, to be honest, I haven't aimed at all. I just fired and hit him by chance." – "Hm, that is not what you have been trained for in Police Academy…" – "Correct, sir, but out on the streets things often are quite different then on the training course." – "So, you say the academy training had not prepared you for your duty?" – "That's not what I've said, sir!"

The elephant bowed down and started to whisper something in the jaguar's ear. He seemed not to be pleased with what he heard, but when he looked at the other three members, they all nodded. "Chief, officer, please leave the room now. We will call you in as soon as we have reached our verdict."

They waited outside for more than half an hour, Bogo was quite, Judy walked up and down. "What is taking them so long?", she said, "Hm, it looks like they couldn't make up their minds…" – "But I just did, what…" but in this moment the door opened and a voice called out, "Come in, please!" After they sat down the jaguar started reading from a sheet of paper: "Officer Judith E. Hopps, ZPD, currently suspended on full pay, this commission had reached the following conclusion: Your use of lethal force against the suspected murderer, Mr Byron Delacroix in the early morning hours of June, 6th 2015 has been in accordance with police regulations as said force was used to protect another officer from said suspect. Your actions had been in accordance with ZPD's tradition of serving and protecting all citizens of Zootopia. Therefore, you are put back on regular duty with immediate effect. This occurrence and the hearing results will be removed from your personal file. Dismissed!"

The jaguar didn't look pleased when Bogo and Judy stood up, saluted, turned around and left the room.


	15. Chapter 15 - Back to Life

**Chapter 15 – Back to Life**

As soon as Bogo and Judy had left the room he said, "My office – now!" They walked to his office and he made sure the door was locked. "What was this about?", Judy asked, "I have shot the panther because my partner was in danger, why is it so important that he is a fox?" Bogo pointed to the chair in front of his desk, "Relax and sit down, that is an order! First, congratulations. They have cleared you and you are back on duty. Second, you don't know what happens behind the scenes here since you two have joined ZPD." Judy shifted uncomfortably in the chair, "Obviously, sir." – "Okay, then let me fill you in. Of course you know about the mayor's petty project, the Small Mammal Inclusion Program, or SMIP for short. You also know I had been against it from day one, but you also know I have changed my mind, mainly because of you." – "Thank you, sir." – "Don't thank me, you did it. This program has been quite unpopular in certain circles. When Wilde joined ZPD, I was bombarded with mails from high members of the city government to pull the plug on this program. 'When you can't get rid of them, put them in the office… or, let's say, on parking duty." Bogo smiled. "You had been quite successful in writing tickets…" Judy was not amused, "Sir, you know perfectly well that's not what I wanted to do when I decided to become a police officer. And Nick is the same." Bogo nodded, "Of course. That's why I never did it. But then I approved your request to make Nick your partner and the next shitstorm followed immediately. Everyone was sure, you two together would not work. No one would respect you, because you are so small, blah-blah, you know these arguments better than me. And, of course, you were fox and bunny, two 'natural enemies', that's how that old fart Johansson called it – you know, the jaguar. He is the biggest opponent of a diversified police troop. When he was a cop it was all tigers, bears, wolves… and jaguars, of course. According to his theory, you would be in permanent stress when teamed up with Wilde as the smell of him would trigger your flight impulse; please, Judy, stop looking at me like this, I am just quoting."

Judy took a deep breath. "Sir, sorry, but this is bullshit. His smell should…", she stopped as she couldn't possibly tell Bogo that she spent the last night in Nick's bed inhaling his smell like a drug addict. Bogo looked at her curiously, then he said, "I am glad he didn't go deeper into the ambulance ride of yours. When the story I have heard about this is only half true… thank god that the paramedic has not filed an official complaint." Judy blushed, "Sir, I… I just requested to accompany Nick…" – "So, you requested! According to Bullhorn, he nearly shitted his pants – he said he was afraid you would attack that poor paramedic because he didn't knew how to stop you, I quote 'She would have ripped me to pieces if I tried to stop her', and he's a fucking rhino, for crying out loud. And I won't even start about you borrowing a helicopter from the Park Rangers." Bogo sank back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "The mayor still supports you, because the people – his voters – like you, for the papers you are a damn hero, I have received more than fifty interview requests. But in the city council he has no longer a majority since Bellwether is in jail, thanks to you. And now guess, who is the punching ball between police superiors and politicians? I am, of course. The senator of the interior who happens to be the commander-in-chief of the ZPD is on your side – because his car was stolen, too. I don't know how long he will be grateful, politicians have a very short memory when push comes to shove."

Judy sighed, "I am sorry, sir." – "It's not your fault. But please, try to stay a little lower the next weeks. I know you won't like this, but you will not work on the street until further notice. Stay in your office and do the paperwork." – "But, sir, I…" – "That was an order, officer Hopps and I already said, you won't like it. But when I put you on the streets these journalists will follow you everywhere and I can't have that. So, do me and yourself a favor, sit in the office for some hours a day, I don't care how long. If you don't come at all, no problem, give me a call. I know you want to be in the hospital, checking on Wilde. I talked to the doctor yesterday, he is, let's call it 'carefully optimistic'. So, go, visit him. And no more word against a good payload of paperwork. Dismissed!"

When Judy were in Nick's car, she closed her eyes, laid back and sighed. She was furious, but she knew Bogo had actually done her a big favor. But it was so unfair! She tried to call Bren to see if she was on duty, but the bunny nurse did not reply. Twenty seconds later, she received a text message from Bren, saying 'I am here, Dr I want to talk to you, so ask for him. Good news!'

Judy drove to the hospital and asked for Dr Ironbeard at the main entrance reception. Two minutes later he arrived, smiling, and escorted her in his office. "I just wanted to call you, but obviously you have read my mind. Sit down, please. Some coffee?", he said but Judy declined. He was now much friendlier then that night. He took out a giant handkerchief and blew his nose noisily. "I am happy to say, your fiancee is out of life danger now. I must say, I am very impressed, I have read about the tremendous healing abilities of foxes but I never witnessed something like that in my career. We have operated him for another 2 hours today. First, we took some skin and tissue from his leg, about twice the size of your paw. We will let it grow in the lab. His back wound is still open, so we attacked his intestines once more. We were able to repair most of the damage, but even though we had to remove a certain amount of his colon. So, altogether he had lost his spleen, his left kidney and some inch of colon. If he lives a healthy life, that should be no problem. Not too much fat, careful with coffee and sugar and especially with alcohol. He should have five small meals a day instead of two or three big ones."

He laid back in his chair and looked at Judy over the rim of his glasses. "I must say, you look much better today, too. As you are in uniform I assume you are back on duty?" Judy nodded, "Yeah, kind of. I have to stay in the office." He smiled, "I bet. Reporters chasing you, eh? I've read the papers and Miss Therault was so kind to give me a copy of an older article about you… she is quite crazy about you, but I bet you know that? Are you sure you two are not related?" – "This is always difficult to tell with bunnies, doctor. Maybe around some corners.", Judy replied. "Whatever, I read everything and I must say, I have misjudged you. You are a fascinating animal…" He closed his eyes and just when Judy thought he had fallen asleep, he said "I must say…" again, this seemed to be his favourite phrase, "… the thought of prey and predator living together still seems… so strange and… I don't know… you are much too young to know about the tame collars, do you?" – "Doctor Ironbeard, I have no idea what you mean. Regarding Nick…" – "Oh yeah, oh yeah… please forgive an old fool for babbling and jumping from one thing to another… I have scheduled the next operation for Friday, we will then connect all his tubes and remove the artificial exit. Then we will close the wound with the newly grown tissue and skin. When his condition continues to improve that fast, I'll wake him up from coma on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Now, come with me, I bet you are eager to see him."

He took her to the IC station, this time she got a visitor's overcoat, that was much too large. Judy was careful not to show him that she has been here before. Nick was still in the same room, but now he was lying on his back. A lot of cushions under his legs and shoulders prevented his wound from touching the sheet. The breathing apparatus was gone. She noticed a bandage around his left shaved thigh. The doctor explained, that they had removed the skin from there. "We still have some risks", he said, "he may be paralyzed, he may even have suffered brain damage during the period his heart had failed. The sooner we wake him up, the sooner we'll know." He lead her out again and said goodbye. She walked over to Gideon's room. She knocked and when no one answered, she opened the door. Gideon stood fully dressed in front of the window but when she was just about to say hi, she noticed he was not alone. Francine, the vixen nurse was standing in front of him. Both had closed their eyes, their arms wrapped around each other, kissing so passionately they failed to notice Judy. She retreated silently and closed the door, smiling. Obviously, Gideon was well.

The big advantage of being forced to do paperwork in the office was that time passed quite quickly. She continued to sleep in Nick's apartment as she had found out that reporters were lurking around hers. The fact that Nick's place had no windows and was such invisible from the outside helped a lot if one wanted to stay undercover. Judy counted away the hours until Monday, 10 am, when Dr Ironbeard had scheduled Nick's waking up after the final operation on Friday went well. She lived through a lot of scenarios from him being all right to him not remembering her at all. She was in permanent contact with Bren. Gideon had been released on Tuesday and needed to return to Bunny Burrows to attend his bakery.

On Monday Judy was wide awake since 2 am. She dressed in a yellow summer dress and applied Nick's favourite perfume, maybe this would help him remembering. At 9 she drove to the hospital and met with Bren. It was her day off, but of course she wanted to be present. For the first time, Nick was in a normal single room. He still had a monitor attached, of course, as well as an IV, but his wound was closed and bandages had been wrapped around his lower torso. He looked like he was sleeping, his face totally relaxed. Bren had not been allowed in, the doctor was accompanied by two younger vets and two nurses were present, too. After checking all his vital signs they fixed him with leather strips. When Ironbeard saw Judy's irritated face he tried to calm her, "It's for his own safety. Some patients start cramping or bashing around, especially when suffering from a trauma like he did. We just don't want him to hurt himself." He nodded to one of the other docs, a beaver, and he took a syringe and inserted the content in Nick's IV drip. Nothing happened. "It can take a while, until…", Ironbeard said when suddenly the heart monitor started beeping rapidly, Nick's heart rate shooting up from 65 to 90, then 110 bpm. "Switch off the sound, it might irritate him!", the beaver said and one of the nurses obeyed. Suddenly Nick took a deep breath. Slowly, he opened his eyes. They looked out of focus and Judy reached out to touch his paw, not without giving the doctor a questioning look. He nodded, and she took his paw in hers, gently rubbing. His head turned slowly to the side. She felt his emerald eyes getting in contact with hers, he opened his mouth saying nearly inaudible: "Carrots…"


	16. Chapter 16 -Prejudices and Dark Thoughts

**Chapter 16 – Prejudices and Dark Thoughts**

Judy had wanted to be strong and optimistic, but when Nick called her by that stupid nickname she was so happy, so relieved, that tears started streaming from her huge eyes dripping on Nick's paw in hers. "What did he say?", one of the assistants asked, "Carrots?" Judy nodded, "That… he is always calling me that…", she said under tears. Nick had closed his eyes again, but he smiled. Not his usual smirk but a relaxed smile. "What happened? Where am I?", he asked slowly, "You are in the hospital, you got shot, but everything is fine now…", Judy said. Doctor Ironbeard cleared his throat, then made a step forward to stand next to Judy. "Hello, my name is Doctor Ironbeard and I have some questions for you… first, could you tell me your name?" – "Nick… Nick Wilde." – "Okay, is this your full name?" – "Nicholas P. Wilde…" – "You are doing great, Mr. Wilde, what does the P. stands for?" – "Peter… my father."

The doc continued for some five minutes asking profession, birthdate, address and some other things. Judy was afraid he would ask Nick about his engagement to her, but the doctor nodded after the basic questions, saying "This is enough for the first interview. Miss Hopps, you now have five minutes. It might sound crazy but he needs sleep now. A coma is not the same as healthy, natural sleep, he must be very tired now." Judy nodded, then Nick whispered, "It was that damned panther, eh?" – "Yes, but you are save now, he will never harm you again!" – "We got them all?" – "Yeah, the whole gang." – "How long was I gone?" – "Nine days." – "Wow. Are we… team of the month?" Judy smiled, "Yes, thrice in a row. A new record." – "Splendid…", his head turned back and the doctor gave her a sign to leave. When she stood up, he suddenlt grabbed her arm, "Cotton tail… no kiss? I think I have earned myself a reward…" She chuckled, wiping the tears from her face and gave him a long kiss. "See you tomorrow… sleep well now!" When she released his paw, he was already breathing slowly and deeply. They all left the room, the assistants and nurses vanished, only the doc stayed with her, "I must say, that went quite well. The cognitive part of his brain seems to work well. You will watch him carefully over the next days and report any… unusual signs or changes of his personality or gaps in his longterm memory, will you? Tomorrow we will conduct a lot of tests regarding his ability to move and will start physiotherapy… so you should be here at 9 am. See you tomorrow!" She thanked him, then made some phone calls to her parents, Kitty and Bogo to inform them all about what was going on.

She hopped happily along the corridor to get home when she passed a door marked "Medical Personnel only!" that was ajar. She stopped because she heard Nick's name. "… yeah, of course, Nick Wilde… the police officer! Man, you should read the papers once in a while, they were full of stories, even with pictures…" – "Nah, I haven't read a thing… so, he is a real cop? A fox?" Judy recognized the voices of the two assistants who had been with Ironbeard, "Yeah, for real. They really made that sneaking fox bastard a cop, you shouldn't believe that shit. And look at today's paper, they made a fucking hero out of him… and his bunny, too, they say she shot that Count or Baron or whatever he called himself…" – "When you ask me, that's all nonsense! That's why I don't read these crap papers, full of lies! A bunny and fox saving the city from criminals, I don't believe a word. They are just fucking perverts. Man, I nearly puked when she really kissed him! That can't be legal – a prey and a predator, engaged? Why doesn't the cops arrest THEM? But go out and park on a handicap parking once and only for five minutes and you have them all on your ass, believe me!" – "Do you think… they really DO it?" – "Ewwww, man, you're so sick, don't put any images in my head! I don't wanna know! I think these guys…", but Judy had heard enough. At first impulse, she wanted to storm in and tell these idiots… but what? Would they understand when she told them about the feelings she and Nick have? No, of course not. She sneaked away and drove to Nick's place where she spent the rest of the day thinking about their relationship. These two jerks in the hospital, was that what most people in Zootopia were thinking? But Bren and Kitty, they didn't mind, did they? And was she really that different? Or perverted? And what about Nick, he really loved her, he couldn't just follow some kinky obsession – or could he? No, she couldn't be that wrong about him. However, she had still not told her parents about their relationship, for them Nick was still just her partner… and a fox. She was already glad that their opinion about foxes had improved a lot since Gideon had become dad's business partner. Spontaneously she took out her phone and called Bren and asked her over. She seemed to be surprised and was a bit reluctant as she had to work at 9 pm, but then she agreed when Judy offered her to drive her to the hospital and promised to order pizza for diner.

Twenty minutes later Judy waited in front of the door as Nick had neither a doorsign nor a bell. Bren looked uncomfortable when entering the huge factory building but stood with open mouth as soon as they entered Nick's place. "This is a palace! Why did I become a stupid nurse? Do all police officers live like that?" Judy laughed, "No, my own apartment is a single room with toilet. This is Nick's apartment, he got that when he was still… a kind of business man." She showed her around and Bren nearly freaked out when she saw the jacuzzi in the bathroom, but then the pizza driver called her as he couldn't find the address and Judy went down to get their diner. When she came back carrying the two steaming boxes, Bren asked, "Could we eat in the tub?" – "Hell, no!", Judy answered immediately but felt sorry as she saw the look on Bren's face when she said, "Sorry for asking, I don't wanted to be rude. I forgot… we barely know each other…" – "No, Bren, that's not the point here… I just don't like eating in the water… otherwise, I would have no problem sharing the tub with you…" Suddenly, Bren looked shyly to the side, "It's just… I have no friends here… the other nurses are nice, okay, but with these different shifts every day it's hard to meet outside working hours. And you are so… I can't say… sometimes it feels like I have known you for so long and you are so… brave, you are just like I wanted to be all my life, but I never dared to… so, please, Judy, forgive me for idolizing you like that…" – "No, Bren, it's okay, really. Let's have our pizza before it's cold." While they ate, Bren asked hundreds of questions about Judy, her life at Bunny Burrows, how she'd decided to become a police officer, the training at the academy, everything, before Judy finally could ask some questions herself.

Judy had always thought her life was boring but compared to Bren's childhood in Nuthanger, Judy had grewn up in a bustling city. "… and of course, I should work on the cabbage patch all day, so my father wanted me to quit school – but I always wanted to be a vet. I had to fight hard, believe me, but in the end he gave in, I could at least finish high school. But my grades were so bad, I could forget about studying, so, when my dad made plans of getting me married to that retard of a cousin of mine, I ran away to Zootopia, worked as a waitress, saved all the money and then joined nurse school. And I made it! And I got a job at Zootopia General, okay, that's no big deal, they always recruit nurses as no one wants to work in this shithouse for 24 hour shifts getting 5.20 per hour." Bren sighed, "But at least I got out of Nuthanger – and I love being a nurse." They finished eating and Judy asked carefully, "Bren… do you think… I mean, do you believe I am sick or some kind of crazy?" Bren looked at her with huge eyes, "You? Crazy? Hey, sweetheart, believe me, after four years in Zootopia I can assure you that you're one of the sanest animals I ever met!" She let out an impressive burp with wide open mouth that made the walls shake. "Sorry. Ate too fast. But seriously, why do you think such a shit?" – "Because I fell in love with a fox – with a predator, my natural enemy!" Bren laughed, "Oh dear, natural enemy, that was five thousand years ago! We have evolved, living all together now, you wouldn't believe what I have seen in that hospital, strangest animals fall in love left, right and center." Reluctantly, Judy told her about the conversation she overheard, even though she didn't mentioned that it was in the hospital – maybe Bren worked together with these guys. Bren shook her head, "Judy, please, no matter what you do or who do you fall in love with, there will always be animals against it – for real, I had patients that said they didn't want to have a bunny for a nurse." – "Why that?" – "Dunno. But that old lioness, for example, said straight in my face that bunnies could not concentrate 'cause we think of mating all the time." – "But this is horrible! I hate these fucking prejudices! What did you do when she said that?" Bren shrugged, "Nuffin'. I told myself that this old hag had never been fucked her whole life… and I made sure I spat on her meals as often as I could. Oh, and once, I peed in her soup!" – "Oh my goodness, Bren!" – "Hey, fair is fair. Oh shit, look at the time, can you drive me over to the hospital? I promise, I'll take good care of your fox."

They went to the hospital in Nick's car, hugged goodbye and Judy drove back to Nick's apartment, undressed and went straight to bed. But she couldn't sleep. She had been so furious about what Bren told her about the prejudiced lioness, but not so many month ago she had been exactly the same – when she had watched Nick entering that ice cream parlor she had thought he would commit a crime – just because he was a fox and foxes were sly, treacherous and criminal, period. Okay, he _had_ been a con artist, but later she had found out that he only did what everyone was expecting from someone like him. But that had changed, he now was a police officer, she had read today's newspaper, they had dedicated half a page to his graduation photo and an article about his career at ZPD. She remembered one sentence, _When chief Bogo matched up these very different officers, he received quite some headwind from his superiors, but success proved him right – the end of the car theft gang has not been a mere coincidence, yesterday Bogo announced that Wilde and Hopps had been named 'Crime Fighting Team of the Month' for the third time in a row, talking about their differences adding up making them so successful._ Below that line, there was a small snapshot of them. It shows Nick leaning against the fender of their patrol car, looking cool with his aviators on, a large milkshake in his paw. The straw was hanging from his mouth while his head was turned halfway to her. She was sitting on the hood with a cup of cappuccino. Their heads were only inches apart and both were smiling. She remembered that scene, it had been during their break, two or three days before the shooting, even though she hadn't noticed someone taking a picture. It was captioned _ENEMIES, REALLY? DO THESE TWO LOOK LIKE THEY DON'T GET ALONG?_

All of a sudden, she became aware of how close she was to never see Nick again. The plans she had with him, living together, getting an apartment together, fights over the furniture, laughing, watching movies, going to concerts or the theater, working together – all of this could have been gone in a split second. What if he died? The thought of it alone made her heart hurt so much, she had to turn the lights on. She started to cry and couldn't stop. Every time she closed her eyes she saw herself standing in front of a coffin covered with the ZPD flag and Nick's badge on top. She jumped out of bed and took an ice cold shower until she felt better. It was two in the morning. When she decided to go back to bed, she suddenly heard a voice in her head _You are much too young to know about the tame collars, do you?_ She had interrupted the doctor because she was eager to know about Nick's state, but now this remark came back… Tame collars? Still wet and naked, she sat down and tried to find something on her smart phone. But the small screen was not good for complex recherche, so she dressed in her uniform and drove over to the ZPD. Most cops did their paperwork in a huge room with about twenty desks, but she and Nick had gotten a small office as the other desks were all too high. It was empty and peaceful at this early hour. The night receptionist barely looked up from his paper and nodded. The office area was deserted. She sat on her chair after she removed a half eaten apple from Nick's desk that had started to smell. Judy browsed through the results of her "Tame collar" search until she found a page titled "The truth about the tame collars – what THEY don't want you to know!" When she opened it, it looked like the typical conspiracy theory page. A certain H. Badger had created this page. She was just about to close it again when her eye catched her own name.

She had found a sub-page named "The Discoveries of officer Judy Hopps – what THEY don't want you to know!" How strange it felt to read one's own name on the internet… She started reading:

 _Many of us thought the nomination of a bunny police officer had just been a clever trick to convince the prey community that all mammals are finally treated with equality even in the ZPD (See also my page "The conspiracy behind the Small Mammal Inclusion Program (SMIP) – what THEY don't want you to know!"). But obviously no one had informed Miss Hopps that she was just a token bunny._ ("Believe me, they tried!" Judy whispered while reading). _Nearly without any resources, not even access to ZPD computer system, the brave bunny uncovered a conspiracy of Mayor Lionheart, who tried to keep the vanishing of predators under cover that had "gone savage". You all know, of course, that it had turned out later that Assistant Mayor Bellwether was behind this. Lionheart later claimed he had just wanted to "protect" the Zootopia citizens by covering it all up and imprisoning the savage predators in secret. That's why a lot of us call him Mayor Lyingheart! He had protected himself and the supremacy of the predators…_

The article went on and on and even if there were certain strange information contained in here, most of it was true. And most of Lionheart's actions during the Savage Crisis had been hushed up afterwards. Maybe this H. Badger was not so crazy as his homepage looked. Judy went back to the tame collar page. According to this, there had been plans to put so called tame collars on every predator age six and up. These collars could not be opened without an electronic code key. It would constantly measuring heart rate and blood pressure and apply an electric shock whenever the owner was in "a state of rage or anger". This should have prevented any agressiveness against prey animals. Together with the tame collar law there should be what was then called "Segregation"; strictly keeping apart prey and predators in hospitals, restaurants and even residantial areas. According to this page, these plans had been withdrawn but the collars, in all sizes, had already been produced and tested and are now stored in a secret government facility. She read on:

 _De facto segregation_ _in Zootopia has increased since the_ _last fifty years._ _The Supreme Court ruled in_ _1974 that de facto racial segregation was acceptable, as long as schools were not actively making policies for racial exclusion; since then, schools have been segregated due to myriad indirect factors._

 _Redlining_ _is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services, such as banking, insurance, access to jobs,_ _access to health care,_ _or even supermarkets_ _to residents in certain, often mainly predatory areas. The most devastating form of redlining, and the most common use of the term, refers to_ _mortgage discrimination_ _. Over the next twenty years, a succession of further court decisions and federal laws, including the_ _Home Mortgage Disclosure Act_ _and measure to end_ _mortgage discrimination_ _in 1975, would completely invalidate_ _de jure_ _racial segregation and discrimination in Zootopia, although_ _de facto_ _segregation and discrimination have proven more resilient. According to the Civil Rights Project at_ _Zootopia University_ _, the actual de facto desegregation of Zootopia public schools peaked in the late 1980s; since that time, the schools have, in fact, become more segregated mainly due to the self-induced segregation of the city with prey dominating the suburbs and predators the urban centers. According to Sajiv Rethi, an economist at Zootopia University, pred-prey segregation in housing is slowly declining for the metropolitan area._ _This_ _segregation or separation can lead to social, economic and political tensions._ _By the year 2000_ _, Zootopia remained in many areas a residentially segregated society, in which_ _predators_ _and prey_ _inhabit different neighborhoods of vastly different quality._

 _In 2002 small businesses in predatory neighborhoods still received fewer loans, even after accounting for businesses density, businesses size, industrial mix, neighborhood income, and the credit quality of local businesses._ _I_ _n 2003 it was clear that race has long affected and continues to affect the policies and practices of the insurance industry._ _Workers living in Central_ _Zootopia_ _have a harder time finding jobs than suburban workers._

 _The desire of many prey animals to avoid having their children attend integrated schools has been a factor in_ _prey flight_ _to the suburbs._ _A 2007 study showed that groups of homeowners of all species tended to self-segregate in order to be with animals of the same education level and species._ _By 1990, the legal barriers enforcing segregation had been mostly replaced by decentralized racism, where prey pay more than predators to live in predominantly prey areas._ _Today, many prey animals are willing, and are able, to pay a premium to live in a predominantly prey neighborhood. Equivalent housing in prey areas commands a higher rent._ _These higher rents are largely attributable to_ _exclusionary zoning_ _policies that restrict the supply of housing. Regulations ensure that all housing units are expensive enough to prevent access by undesirable groups. By bidding up the price of housing, many prey neighborhoods effectively shut out predators, because preds are unwilling, or unable, to pay the premium to buy entry into these expensive neighborhoods. Conversely, equivalent housing in predatory neighborhoods is far more affordable to those who are unable or unwilling to pay a premium to live in prey neighborhoods._

Judy leaned back and sighed. That was definitely not a good night lecture! But could this really be true? Man, how she missed Nick now, he could have helped with that stuff. It was now half past six, still too early to go to the hospital. She wrote an email to Bogo telling him she would be off after eight to see Nick in the hospital. Then she walked over to the small restaurant to get some breakfast. At this time the place was full of cops. Clawhauser offered her his seat at a table crammed with six cops including Tony and Wolfowitz and she had no choice but to accept. Benji got up, burped loudly (the other officers nodded respectfully), grabbed his four bags of donuts to go and squeezed his obese cheetah body out of the place. "They have blueberry pancakes!", said Tony, but Judy already knew as the usually orange fur around Tony's mouth was dark blue. "May I treat you?" – "How nice of you, thanks!", she said and gave him a broad smile. One week ago, this nice gesture would have caused the others to shout obsceneties or wolf-whistling, but out of respect they behaved. One cop Judy didn't know asked how Nick was and Judy told them what she knew. The pancakes were great, of course not as good as her mom's, but Judy forgot for some minutes about her troubles. The others started to crack the usual jokes and she joined in after a while. When they all got up and marched over to the ZPD, Judy's mood had improved by a hundred percent. She drove over to the hospital where Nick's examination would start at 9.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Scandal

**Chapter 17 – The Scandal**

Judy found Nick's room empty, but the nurse at the reception desk told her that he had already been brought to the physiotherapy room. Before Judy could ask for directions, she got hit by a small furry projectile. Bren pressed her nose against hers then turned to the shocked nurse saying, "It's okay, I'll take her over!" Before Judy could even say hello, Bren had started to jabber in record breaking speed, "He is so awesome! So awesome! I swapped my shift with Eloise, so I have his room under my supervision and, wow, I so envy you! He is really funny and kind and gorgeous and clever and I don't know what else… oh, that's funny, at first he thought you came and asked me why I wore a nurse outfit, tee-hee, but as soon as I came close, he found out, and then he made a joke, forget what it was, but it was hilarious and I laughed so hard, later I came back and had to give him some pain killers, poor baby, couldn't sleep because the wound was hurting him so much, but even though, he is soooooo cool, and, oh, I told him everything about us two becoming friends…" – "Wait, wait, wait!", yelled Judy who had lost the thread about a minute ago, "What do you mean, you told him everything? You didn't tell him about me…", she hushed up and looked around anxiously, "… about me lying about our engagement, do you?" Bren just waved, "Naah, what do you think I am, a klutz? Of course not. Just tell him, he'll take it easy!" Judy sighed, "I am not so sure… bet he'll be angry…" – "Nick? Hey, sister, I don't think this cute guy can ever get mad at you!" Judy nodded, "Believe me, he once was. And I do not want to repeat that experience ever again!" – "Okay, here we are!"

They opened a huge door and walked into a large tiled room where Nick lay on a large bed. Next to him stand a huge rhino, dressed in white. Her name tag read "Brunhild, Physiotherapist". Judy heard her say, "… and after that we'll check your lower leg muscles and…", she had noticed the two bunnies and looked at them angrily while Nick gave a faint smile. "What is _she_ doing here?" she pointed at Judy. "It's okay, she's from the police, a colleague of Nick, his partner!", Bren replied. When the rhino wanted to answer, she added, "And I got permission from Doc Ironbeard!" Brunhild shrugged and turned back to Nick. "Whatever. Okay, foxy, lift your right leg!" Nick managed to lift the leg only an inch and he panted like he had just absolved a marathon, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "Pityful!", Brunhild shook her head, "Yeah, yeah, great Doctor Ironbeard, never thought of calling me earlier to move your limbs a little during coma. Now we have it, you haven't moved a muscle for ten days and all your power turned into pudding. Don't worry, little fellow, I'll fix that in no time…"

Thirty minutes later, Nick was drenched in sweat and Judy suffered with him. The rhino was treating him like a junk of pizza dough, turned him on his belly, pressed every muscle with her giant hands and whenever he cried, she said, "Don't be such a cry baby, what will your partner think? Yeah, yeah, the hardest cop in town, at least that's what in the news, but thirty teeny-tiny minutes of hard work and we have a poor little cryin' fox cub here…" Nick's face, much redder than usual, turned to Judy, gritting his teeth, "Gimme your gun, I'll shoot this bitch…" But Brunhild just laughed, "Foxy darling, you wouldn't even be able to hold it, let alone pull the trigger, not enough juice left…" She smacked him hard on his naked butt, "So, that's it for today. Rejoice, foxy, tomorrow I have one full hour booked espacially for you and the day after you'll stay with me for two full hours! Yay!" She turned around, removing her gloves. "Here, I leave you to those two bunnies, they can take you back to your room."

It was hard work for two bunnies to move the big bed with the cursing fox back to his room. After four glasses of water, he felt better. Bren needed to leave as she was needed on another station and so they finally were alone. "Bren told me you were in pain?", Judy asked, "Yeah… I couldn't sleep, had nightmares every time I tried… that Bren… she's crazy but she distracted me, I like her… she told me, you saved my life out there…" Judy took his sweaty paw in hers, "A lot of people saved your life… Kitty, that paramedic who closed your bleeding artery, the nurses and doctors in here… and Gideon, an old school mate, he donated blood for you." She wiped his forehead. "Should I ask the doc if he would cancel that physiotherapy…?" – "Hell, no! I want to get out of this shit house as quickly as possible, but I need my muscles back… well, I never tried sado-maso before, I bet that rhino cunt is an expert in this business…" He tried to laugh, but started coughing. When Judy looked for more water for him, she realized for the first time that a table near the window was packed with flowers and get well cards. After she gave Nick the water she took a closer look.

"Wow, so many flowers and cards…" – "Yeah, don't know half of the animals…" – "This one is from the mayor himself! And… oh, a grade school class, they drew a picture of you and wrote 'OUR HERO' on it – how cute! And another picture… eww, that's gross", obviously one of the kids had a vivid fantasy and had drawn Nick in an ocean of blood, x's for eyes. Next to him was a picture of her beating on a black unidentifiable mass with what looked like a baseball bat. Above Nick was a sketch of what seemed to be a fox angel dressed in white, complete with wings and a harp. She decided to skip this gory picture. "Look at the card in pink on the left", Nick grinned, "Can't wait to rub it unter Benji's nose…" Judy shrieked out loud when she opened it, "I can't believe it, it's from Gazelle!" On a large picture of the famous singer was not only her autograph but a handwritten text: _Dear Nicholas, thanks for your sacrifice to make our beloved home safe again! 'One single hero can warm the hearts of thousands'_ "That's a line from one of her songs!", Judy said. "Oh, yes, that reminds me, Bogo was here, just a minute before they took me away this morning, he had two envelopes, they are under that green vase… he couldn't tell me about it…"

Indeed, there were two identical envelopes, thick beautiful paper. When she turned them around, she looked puzzled, "One is for you, but the other one is addressed to me!" – "Well, open it!", Nick said, "Don't look at me, I have no idea what's in it!" She broke the seal and took out a folded paper with the seal of Zootopia in the upper left corner and a beautiful handwriting:

 _Dear officer Judith E. Hopps (ZPD),  
the city council of Zootopia has the pleasure and honour to announce, that resolution No. 266/2015 has been passed in the regular council meeting of June, 14_ _th_ _2015\. The forementioned resolution orders the council minister of the interior to award to you, officer Judith E. Hopps, the Service Medal in Gold, First Class, to honor the courage, perseverance and loyalty you showed to the city of Zootopia and all its inhabitants as you have distinguished yourself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of your life above and beyond the call of duty.  
The medal will be awarded to you in an open ceremony in front of all ZPD officers and members of the city council on a date we will determine at a later point. Please accept our best wishes and congratulations, etc. pp._

She checked Nick's envelope to make sure it had the same content. "Wow!", Judy said smiling, "This… this is the highest medal you could get as a police officer!" – "Really? As you said, wow. But right now, I would swap that medal for an overdose of pain killers…" Judy pressed the button and a nurse came and promised to get Nick some medicine to ease his pain. Two minutes later she came back and injected a syringe in his IV drip. Nick relaxed immediately and fell asleep. Judy kissed him carefully, then left to go back to ZPD.

Just when she had sat down in her office, it knocked. Chief Bogo came in and sat in Nick's chair that made suspicious noises under the weight of the water buffalo. "How is Nick?", he asked and Judy reported about Nick's state. She had taken her envelope with her and when Bogo saw it on her desk he nodded, "So, you already know. Wanted to give this to you in person, but you weren't here, so I thought you are at the hospital, but before I could tell Nick, they wheeled him away for therapy." He paused for a second then said, "A great honor. When I am correct you are only the third cop in history to get a Class One. And the other two have been quite some time ago…" – "Sir, I don't know if I earned this… I just did my job…", Judy said. Bogo sighed, "To be honest with you, this is a result of a fight in the city council. Lionheart is fighting to maintain his majority. You two are popular and he wants to sail in your wind. Normally, you two may have been awarded a medal by the department, a Silver Star or something like that… but Lionheart wanted to bath in your popularity, he wants a photo of him awarding the medals to you two on the front page. Next election is close and there is a good chance he will lose his office. I have my sources in the council and know that they debated long about this and the final vote was a close call. When you take a closer look, you'll find that Lionheart has passed _two_ resolutions, one for each of you, so you won't get one medal as a team but two medals as individuals." – "Is their a difference, sir?" Bogo grinned, "Yes, for you two it's a big difference, you may not know but with the medal comes not only a ten percent raise on your salary but also a single payment of 30,000 bucks, so now you will _each_ receive thirty grand instead of fifteen. But he didn't do that for doing you a favor, on the contrary, this will be paid out of the city budget and will hurt him quite a bit. But he wanted to make sure that the animals in the council who don't like predators were forced to vote for Wilde's medal, too. It would look strange when they give you a medal but not Nick, wouldn't it?" Judy sighed, "I will never understand these politicians…" – "Yes, because you have a good heart and an honest soul. So don't try." He stood up and walked out of the office. "Congratulations.", he said without turning around just before the door closed.

She tried to look up more information on the tame collar conspiracy but couldn't concentrate. So she went back to Nick's place and went to bed early. At five in the morning her cell phone rang. She pushed the button, "Yeah?" – "Judy, it's me, Kitty, sorry for waking you, but something terrible has happened…", Judy was wide awake in a second, "With Nick?" – "Not directly…" – "What do you mean by that?" – "Bogo is running amok here… it looks like one of those reporters has sneaked inside the ZPD and managed somehow to get into the evidence room…" This room was a high security place inside the ZPD. Not only all physical evidence was stored there but two large computers that were not connected to the net contained photos and footage and documents of every case the police was working on. Kitty sobbed, "It seems one of the guys from the Zootopia Enquirer copied material from Nick's shooting… Bogo tried to stop the printing of today's issue but the Enquirer had a lawyer present, he relied on the Freedom of Information Act and so all this data and photos went into printing…" – "Kitty, please, calm down, don't cry. So, they have some crime scene photos… we did do nothing wrong, what's the big deal?" – "Oh, Judy, you haven't seen it, you haven't read… and you didn't know about the worse thing…" – "What? Spit it out, Kitty!" – "They… they have published copies from Nick's hospital file, don't know how they got it, it was not in the evidence room…" – "Yeah, so what?" – "Judy, did you forgot? In his hospital papers his marital status had been entered as 'Engaged' and in the field 'Spouse'…" – "… there's my name!", Judy finished in shock.

Sixtyseven seconds later she was dressed and ran outside to the next news stand. When she asked for an Enquirer, the boar behind the counter looked at her open mouthed, "My gawd… it's you!" She snatched a copy out of the stand. The title page had the headline _FULL TRUTH! ALL NASTY DETAILS!_ over a dark picture of a night scene. Judy recognized the car truck in the background but not more as a large text box was covering most of the rest of the photo: _WARNING! This issue contains full detailed crime scene pictures and should not be opened by animals with critical heart conditions or children!_ Two more animals came close and Judy ran the other way to avoid being seen.

She slammed the door of Nick's apartment and opened the Zootopia Enquirer. Fourteen pages of gruesome photos, each half a page. A crime scene photo of the deer with the missing face. Another one of the 'Baron' where you could see lots of brain and the missing back of the head. A picture of herself, kneeling next to Nick's limp body. Her face smeered with blood, her eyes wide open in panic. The still looked like she was screaming, it must had been taking while she was yelling for an ambulance. However, it was captioned _YELLING FOR REVENGE!_ Another one, Judy and Kitty fighting for Nick's life. Judy turned the page. The next was from the surveillance camera, a raw pixeled still of her standing on the hood of the car, shooting at the panther. You could see his head explode, but for those who couldn't, the editor has added a magnified version and a drawing with more gory details. The artist must be the dad of that kid that sent Nick the drawing of him lying in a puddle of blood with an angel above him, Judy thought bitterly. "Oh my god…" The next shot was captioned _THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – WHO IS WHO?_ It showed the back of the ambulance, the black panther was illuminated by the cabin lights. He looked frightened as hell and had both paws up in a defensive gesture. Before him stood Judy, looking like she was about to pounce. Her paws were stretched out, the claws could be seen clearly, her teeth bared, the ears lying flat on her head. She looked like a vampire as blood was everywhere around her mouth. Some of these photos must be stills from the footage of the officer's body cams. Between all those pictures were radio protocols from the police and ambulance, the complete transcript of her call with the ranger, autopsy reports, a detailed list of Nick's injuries, obviously taken from his hospital file. And ther it was: under that photo of the ambulance scene there was a box titled _FIGHTING FOR HER BELOVED PREDATOR!_ "Oh, fuck…", she started to read.

 _A lot of animals have wondered why a timid, shy bunny would not only enter police service, some other asked how a fox could have been enrolled at ZPD – most of us consider foxes sly, secretive and bound for trouble by nature. Is officer Wilde an exception of the rule? His police file does not contain any crimes, that's true, however, there are some unanswered questions here. As 'former employment' his record says only 'Private businessman'. What business had he operated? No one seems to know. But those two also ended paired up with each other, not just prey and predator, but a bunny with a fox. Foxes and bunnies have been enemies since the dawn of time. Even though, those two seem to get along quite well as their impressive number of solved cases proofs. BUT WHEN TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES WITHIN THE ZOOTOPIA GENERAL HOSPITALS GAVE OUR REPORTER ACCESS TO MR WILDE'S FILE, WE WERE FINALLY ABLE TO UNEARTH THE CAUSE OF THEIR GOOD RELATIONSHIP! According to his entry form, Mr Wilde is engaged to none other then said bunny, Miss Hopps! A nurse, who wants to remain incognito, said 'Yeah, I am pretty sure, this is true! You should see how she looks at him, it really is disgusting. She stayed the entire night while he was operated. I have a friend here, she swears she'd seen those two kissing, can you believe that?'  
Even though intercourse between different species is not punishable by law anymore, anyone should know what had happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, where sexual intercourse between different races was common practice, according to Our Holy Bible. Today's word for this unnatural practice, 'sodomy', comes directly from there. A lot of animals have proclaimed those two cops 'heroes' over the last few days. SHOULD THESE TWO REALLY SET AN EXAMPLE FOR OUR KIDS? What does it tell about our society when those disgusting practices are common in our police service? DID CHIEF BOGO KNOWS ABOUT THIS, WAS HE MAYBE EVEN TOLERATING OR ENCOURAGING THIS BEHAVIOUR? We discussed this with an expert, psychiatrist Robert Fullen… (continued on page 17,21,26 and 32)_

Judy was in panic. Everyone would read this bullshit! Her parents! "Oh my god, Judy, keep calm!" she told to herself. _Think, think!_ Her parents did not read the Zootopia Enquirer. But with headlines like this it was only a matter of time until someone pointed this out to them… except if… There were only three shops in Bunny Burrows were you could buy over-regional papers; the drugstore on main street, the gas station near the highway exit, and… the bakery of Gideon Grey! Judy grabbed her phone. Yeah, Gideon's number was still stored there from the night she called him. It was 6 in the morning, he would be awake now. Indeed, after the second ring, she heard him say, "Good morning, Grey's bakery here…" – "Gideon, please, you must help me, it's me, Judy!" – "Oh, hi, Judy, nice to speak to you! What's wrong, does your partner needs more blood?" – "No, no, do you have received the Zootopia Enquirer today?" Gideon was confused, "Er… don't know, I have not opened today's delivery yet… why, can't you get one in Zootopia?" – "Gideon, please, this is important, could you check?" – "Wait a sec… yeah, I see them, I got some twenty copies… I don't like reading this, it's always so negative… what… oh my god, Judy…" – "Gideon, listen, what they wrote is complete bullshit, please, my parents should never lay their paws on a copy, understand?" – "Yeah, I see… but how…" – "Burn them, burn this shit, I'll pay you the damage, then drive over to Milly's drugstore and to the gas station at road 89, buy ALL copies, listen, ALL of them and burn them, too!" – "Wow, Judy… I don't understand…" – "GIDEON, PLEASE! DON'T READ IT, BURN IT, CLOSE YOUR SHOP AND DO IT KNOW, FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE", Judy cried in her phone. "My, my, Judy, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'm on my way!" – "Thank you so much, Gideon…"

She drove to the hospital. Every time she stopped at a red light, she got the feeling the other animals were staring at her. When she stormed in Nick's room, he sat upright in his bed. His breakfast tray was in front of him, he looked much better than yesterday and smiled at her. "Good morning, carrots!", he smiled, "Quite an early visit!" She stood in front of him, couldn't say a word. How should she tell him? How should she start? "Why are you so upset?", he asked grinning, "Have you heard, we'll get 30 grand each for the medal? I learned it from the internet, I looked it up. They brought me my phone, it's still working. Men, I missed a lot during my coma… so I needed to check up lots of things… politics, sports… but what really bugs me is, that I seemed to have missed my own engagement…", he pulled out a newspaper from under his tray. It was a Zootopia Enquirer.


	18. Chapter 18 - A Lot of Meetings

**Chapter 18 – A Lot of Meetings**

When she saw Nick with the paper in his hand, Judy broke out in tears. She buried her face in Nick's cover unable to look at him. She was crying so hard, she wasn't able to say a word. Suddenly, she felt his paw on her head, caressing her softly, playing with her ears. "You bunnies… so emotional…", he said. She looked up and Nick gave her the kleenex box from his nightcase. She blew her nose. "Oh, Nick, I… I had to say… they didn't wanted to tell me anything about you, they said only relatives… and I… what could I do? I am so sorry I borught you in this situation, everyone now thinks we're some kind of freaks, it's all my fault…", she was on the verge of tears again when Nick took her in his arms and said, "No, it's my fault…" – "What? Why? How could you even…" – "Because I haven't asked you earlier, even though I knew." Judy wiped the tears from her large purple eyes, "You knew? What?" – "That I want to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter what. Oh, carrots, I have dreamt about this and it had been so romantic, never thought I would say that lying in a hospital bed with wires up my ass, but I will not hesitate any longer… Judy, do you want to marry me?" – "Oh, Nick… you don't know what this means, there will be a shitstorm on us, we might even lose our jobs…" Nick smiled, "Well, I don't give a damn, as long as I am with you." She nodded, "Me neither…" – "Okay, I'll take that as a yes" Judy laughed and cried at the same time, "Yes, I will! And I promise, I…", but in that instant her cell phone started humming. She took it out, it was a text message from Gideon, "Judy, I am sorry, I did what you told me, but your father just called and cancelled our meeting this afternoon and when I asked why, he said I should look in the Enquirer. Don't know where he got one from. Sorry, Gideon", she read aloud. "What does that mean?", asked Nick confused. She threw her phone on Nick's bed. "That means I'm dead", she just said. Her phone started ringing, the screen displaying a photo of Judy's parents, "I am so dead", she repeated. When she did nothing, Nick urged her, "Well, pick it up and explain it!" – "Nick, I can't! They have read this shit about us and Sodom and Gomorrha and whatever – my dad will come over and kill me, then he'll make me resign and bring me back to mom in cuffs and she'll yell at me and kill me again!" The phone had stopped ringing, but immediately started again. "Take it!", Nick said, "No, you don't know them, they'll… hey, what are you doing?" Nick grabbed the phone and pressed the green button, then switched on the speaker so Judy could hear along. "Hello, here is Nick Wilde answering Judy's phone!", he said calmly. Silence. Then, "Erm… well… eh… hi… this is Bonnie Hopps, Judy's mother speaking… where's my daughter?" Judy shook her head, both paws over her mouth. "Well, she's visiting me here in the hospital, but went to the restroom and left her phone here…", Nick said. "Ah… okay, Mr Wilde, I hope you feel better…", Bonnie said reluctantly, then they heard a loud voice from the background, "Hey, don't chit-chat with him, ask him, ask him, what he did to Jude…" Judy's eyes went bigger and bigger as she heard the rage in her dad's voice. Bonnie cleared her throat, "Well, Mr Wilde, maybe you've read something in the papers… I mean… there are certain rumours that…" Nick and Judy heard some clicking noise, then the voice of Stu, "Fer Pete's sake, gimme that stupid thing… hey, Mr. Fox, listen up, here Jude's father and I can't tell you how pissed I am… that stupid paper is full of crap about you and my daughter, if you did anything funny to her, I swear by god…" – "Stu!", her mom yelled from behind, "ask him, is it true?" – "Yeah, you're right… so, what we want to know: tell me this fucking paper has produced bullshit and there is no engagement!"

Judy looked at Nick full of panic, but Nick just smiled to her and said, "Hello, Mr Hopps, I can fully understand your agitation, but rest assured: what that reporter wrote about us being engaged had been a lie!" Judy looked at him, moving her lips _What are you doing?_ But Nick just smiled to her. "Oh… well…", said Stu, "That is… so you don't have any relationship…" – "Mr Hopps, that's not what I said. When that reporter wrote his article, there had been no engagement, that is true. But things have changed in the meantime. Mr Hopps, Mrs Hopps, believe me, I didn't wanted this to happen on the phone, but circumstances are as they are… I really do love your daughter and even though the Enquirer is full of shit, one thing is true: We are a couple and I asked her five minutes ago if she wants to be my wife and she agreed, so technically we are engaged now. And I know this must be strange for you, but I would be very happy if you could give us your blessing… and Judy, too, of course." Silence. Nick looked at Judy but she shrugged. They heard a bump over the speaker. "Mr Hopps?", Nick asked carefully. After five more seconds they heard Bonnie's voice, "Well… erm… it looks like my husband has just fainted… I'll call you back." The line went dead. Nick sighed and gave Judy her phone back. "Hm, I think they took it quite well, what do you mean?" Judy just repeated, "I think I'm dead."

It knocked and before Nick could say anything the door opened and in came chief Bogo. He took a look on Nick's bed and saw the Enquirer. "Ah, I see, you already know. This makes it easier for me. You can't imagine what…", but before he could continue the door smashed open and Kitty stormed in, yelling, "Nick, Bogo is on his… oh!" She stopped dead as she saw his angry face, "Sir… you're already here…" – "Obviously. Well, before officer MacMahon interrupted me, I wanted to say that everyone went crazy out there. They bombard us with mails, letters, phone calls, hell, some even dial 911 to yell at our operators about you two. I assume it is true? The engagement story?" – "Yes, sir", both replied. "Hm, I'd never thought… but however, my personal opinion regarding inter-species relationship is not relevant here… I am sorry, but the minister of interior has called me and I have no choice… you two are suspended from duty." – "But sir," Kitty intervened, "you can't do that! Nick and Judy are the best cops we have! And they did do nothing wrong!" Bogo's voice grew louder, "I do not remember asking you for your opinion, officer MacMahon! And I'm well aware of the situation, but I have no choice here! There even is a demonstration in front of the ZPD right now! Some of those religious fanatics… Hopps, please make sure you bring your badge and your gun today… and use the back entrance."

Judy could just nod quietly as Bogo got up. "You biased piece of shit." Bogo froze mid-movement, then turned around. Kitty stood there, trembling with rage, her tail swishing left to right like a whip. Her lips were drawn back showing her brilliant white fangs. "This is it? You came here, to the best cops you ever had and all you have to say is 'Bring back your badge and gun and use the back entrance'?" Judy was shocked, her mouth wide open but unable to speak. She heard Nick say, "Kitty, no, it's no use…", but it was too late. Kitty made two steps until she stood directly in front of Bogo. As he had not risen from the chair completely, their heads were level, less than an inch apart. Kitty hissed loudly, then started to yell, "Did you forgot, these two saved your ass during the Savage case! Judy had offered you help, but no, chief Ugly Butt made her a meter maid, but still, with no help and no resources she solved the case for you! SHE'S THE ONLY REASON WHY YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SCUM ARE STILL CHIEF AND YOU KNOW IT!" Kitty scremed at the top of her lungs, her voice snapping over, "I HAD THOUGHT YOU LEARNED OUT OF IT, THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO LOOK BEYOND OUR OUTSIDE, THAT'S WHY I JUST STARTED TO… YOU FUCKING IDIOT! I HATE YOU! I…" Her right paw reached down to her gun fumbling with the holster. "No, Kitty, don't do it!", yelled Judy and Kitty stopped, "Yeah, you're right, I'll not waste a bullet on this swine…" Bogo has not moved a muscle since she started, he looked at her with an expression like he was listening to some nice music. "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?", raged Kitty on, "GO BACK CRAWLING IN THE ARSE OF YOUR FUCKING MINISTER, YEAH, USE THE BACK ENTRANCE!" – "Stop it!", said Bogo, but Kitty was far beyond stopping, "OR WHAT? WILL YOU BEAT ME, YOU COWARD? OR FIRE ME? DON'T WASTE YOUR BREATH, YOU SPINELESS PRICK!" She lifted her right paw again and an amazing set of five razor sharp claws popped out. Judy noted that Kitty had painted them in bright turquoise. Kitty hissed again, then moved back her head and spat right in Bogo's face. Her claws swished through the air, not aiming for Bogo, but her own badge. She ripped it off so fiercely she tore her uniform, a large triangle flapped down thus displaying her perfectly shaped naked breast. With all force she could master she threw her badge at Bogo's forehead. She turned around and stormed towards the door, but before she could open it, Bogo said calmly, "Officer MacMahon!" Kitty stopped dead, Judy heard her sniffing. "Turn around. Come here. _At once!"_ , he said. To Nick's and Judy's surprise, the tabby cat obeyed. Tears were flowing from her beautiful indigo eyes, leaving dark streaks on her fur. Either she hadn't noticed her naked breast or she didn't care. Bogo sat back on his chair and wiped her saliva off his face. He was bleeding from his forehead where her badge had hit him.

Bogo inhaled deeply, wiping the blood off his face with his hoof. His loud voice boomed through the small room. "Officer MacMahon, I have checked our duty tables this morning. Since officer Wilde got shot you have accumulated nearly 50 hours of overtime. You have worked shift after shift and according to Clawhauser you haven't been home in the last 60 hours. Some other officers reported that you have taken short naps in the locker room. I know perfectly well that feline police officer need at least 10 hours of sleep a day. If your species don't get it, the consequences are mental instability and spontaneous outburts of rage. I think you have just demonstrated it. You are totally exhausted. Go home. Now. Sleep. I forbid you to come back today and tomorrow, too. The day after tomorrow, you will appear in my office at 11 am. This is an order!" Judy felt so sorry for poor Kitty, she stood there, crying, her tears still flowing, her lips trembling. She wasn't able to speak, she turned around when Bogo spoke again, "Oh, and officer…", he lifted up her badge from the floor, "… I suggest you use this to cover up the hole in your uniform. There are hundreds of reporters in front of the entrance and the last thing I needed on top of all of this is another Nipplegate. Dismissed!" Kitty left the room and when Judy wanted to follow her, Bogo held her back. "No. Let her." As soon as Kitty had closed the door, it opened again and Bren, the small bunny nurse, poked her head inside, a broad smile on her face, "Hi there!", she said in a high pitched voice, "It seems you have quite some fun in here…", all of a sudden her face changed into a grimace of fury and her voice dropped two octaves, "… BUT THIS IS A FUCKING HOSPITAL, SO ONE MORE LOUD WORD FROM YOU, MISTER, AND I'LL DRAG YOUR FAT BUFFALO BUTT OUTSIDE AND BEAT YOU TO A PULP! GOT THAT?" She smashed the door and some of Nick's get well cards dropped from the table. Bogo got up from his chair, "I didn't knew your sister is working as a nurse in here.", he sighed. "As I've said before, I hate this place. I am sorry. I really wish I could do more for you." Judy just nodded. "Sir, will you… I mean, what will happen to Kitty?" – "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know what I'll do with you two and I don't know what I'll do with her. Maybe she was right and I really _am_ a spineless piece of scum. At least that's how I feel at the moment." Without looking back, he left the room. Judy felt empty and sad but when she looked at Nick she asked, "I don't know how you can smile like this…" – "Well, you just accepted my proposal. The rest is just background noise to me…" The door got slammed open again and Brunhild stomped in, "Gooood morning, sweetheart! Rejoice, cause for the next two hours your ass is mine! The doc allowed me to double our program!" Nick's grin faded away, "Okay, maybe not all of it…"

She watched helplessly Nick being wheeled away, then drove back to Cypress Grove Lane, her hideout. She needed to go home to wash her clothes. But before, Judy followed Bogo's advice and entered ZPD via an unmarked back entrance and placed her badge and gun on Bogo's desk. He was not in the office but Judy was glad about that. She sneaked back out and checked carefully the front of the Grand Pangolin Arms Apartments. Obviously, the reporters had abandoned this place after she didn't showed up for more than a week. She heaved her bag full of dirty laundry out of Nick's car, walked down to the laundry room and stuffed her clothes in the machine. Then she sneaked into her cold, stale apartment. Microorganisms had organized a huge party in her fridge, so she stuffed all the food in a big plastic bag and carried it down to the garbage. When she was back, she threw herself on her bed. Before she could decide what to do, it knocked on the door. She froze. Reporters? Or worse, her parents? The landlady with an eviction note? "Hey Judy, open up, it's us!", she heard a familiar voice. Another voice: "Your neighbors!" – "Great!", she sighed. She opened the door, "Listen, boys, I had quite a lousy day…" – "Yeah, we know!", said Pronk Oryx-Antlerson, "We read the news, too!", added Bucky. They walked in, grabbing her at her arms and carried her backwards on her own bed, then they sat down to her left and right. "Here!", Pronk said while laying a package on Judy's lap, "we thought you might need something to cheer you up!" She opened the brown paper and found some carrots and two wrapped veggie sandwiches. "And here; this will make your toes curl up!", added Bucky and showed her a bottle with a clear liquid.

Judy sighed, "That's really sweet of you, but really…" – "This is our way to apologize…" – "… for being rude to you. We couldn't know… " – "… that you are one of us!" Her head turned from left to right as these two were obviously used to each finishing the sentences of the other. "What do you mean, one of us?", she asked. "A cross-speciecist… sorry, I spat on you, I hate this word… but sodomist sounds so negative…" – "Yeah, you love a fox, a different species!" Judy looked at them, "I still don't know…" – "We are, too!", Bucky said proudly, "I am a kudu and Pronk here…" – "I am a gemsbok", Pronk smiled, "Two different species!" Judy was confused, "There is a difference? I thought you two were some kind of antelopes…" – "Yeah, to the laymen eye we are – but we have different chromosome number, so we couldn't procreate…" – "Yeah, but no problem, as we are gay anyway…"

The next hours, Judy learned a lot about her neighbors. Bucky's parents had accepted the oddity of their son ("… my dad just said: 'Gay alone was not enough, was it?'"), but Pronk had been kicked out and had no contact with his family who lived in the Savanna Central. Judy noticed that she was hungry, so she started eating the sandwiches and the carrots while Pronk got three glasses out of her tiny kitchen and poured some of the liquid. After saying cheers, she tried carefully – and choked. Bucky smiled, "66 volume percent alcohol, my dad made this stuff… really good. He called it 'Bumbum'. You like it?" Judy has drained her glass, "Man, that's disgusting… another one, please!"

They told her, that when they wanted to marry, their request was declined. Homosexual marriages had been allowed twelve years ago, but cross-species marriages were not included in that law amendment. The lawyer they had engaged said, that it was not necessary, as cross-species marriages had never been forbidden, contrary to homosexuality. "We organized a protest wave via the internet, the gay/lesbian/transgender community supported us and the cross-species community is bigger than you would imagine, but the latter one remains undercover as they got stigmatized in the media.", Bucky explained. "We appeared in talk-shows, organized demonstrations and flash-mobs, the whole stuff. We had sued the city of Zootopia, but three days before our trial at the Supreme Court, we received a letter from the mayor, not Lionheart, his predecessor…" – "yeah, he had sent us a marriage certificate, we just needed to sign and pull back our lawsuit and they would accept our marriage. Our lawyer said, we should do it. We were unsure…" – "Yeah, we thought they just wanted to hush it up and that we should go on and make them pass a law, so all species could marry… but such a lawsuit would have cost so much, so in the end we decided to sign the papers. Nothing of this was in the newspapers. Today, no one notices as most of the other mammals don't even recognize us being different species." – "So, when the Enquirer came out with your story, the protest of our community in the internet has started."

She told them everything about herself and Nick and when the first bottle of Bumbum was empty, Bucky got another one, "as we must celebrate your engagement!", as he said. It was well past midnight when she kissed the strange pair goodbye and fell in bed. She heard the usual voices through the wall, "Goodnight, Judy!" – "Goodnight, guys!", she replied. All her trouble was forgotten, thanks to two bottles of Bumbum. She grinned. She was engaged! To Nick! She would marry him, no matter what. She checked her phone, but no one had called, not even her parents. Tomorrow, she thought, forgetting that tomorrow had already become today half an hour ago. Then, she fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19 - Unexpected Visitors

**Chapter 19 – Unexpected Visitors**

Despite all her sorrows, Judy had a blissful, dreamless night but had to pay the price next morning. She crawled to the toilet on all fours and vomited for ten minutes. Totally exhausted she shuffled into the kitchen to find some pain killers for her headache. One hour and two big mugs of strong coffee later she felt a bit better. She checked her phone. No calls. No news. Should she call her parents? What should she say? What would _they_ say? She sighed. "At least, I needn't go to work anymore. Yay!", she murmured. She went back to bed and set the alarm clock to 10. After two more hours of sleep and a long cold shower, she felt much better. She hesitated when she reached for Nick's car key. She was sure she still had some alcohol in her blood. "Fuck it", she said to herself, "what could they do, fire me again?"

In the hospital she found Nick's room empty again, so she walked over to the physiotherapy room. But before she reached it, she saw Nick on the corridor. He was walking! He had one of these four-legged walking aids and was dressed in the jogging suit she had brought him. The suit was soaking wet with sweat and he was gritting his teeth. Judy hopped on the walking aid to kiss him. Some other patients on the corridor were watching but Judy had been in a rebellious mood since she talked to the Oryx-Antlersons yesterday. She gave him a long kiss then looked at the old goat sitting in front of a treatment room who had watched the kiss with wide eyes. _Come on, say something…_ Judythought, but the goat just looked to the side. Brunhild, the rhino physiotherapist, laughed and patted Nick on his shoulder so hard, his knees buckled. "That's the life, eh, foxy? I thought you would fall for me and could have a nice rendezvous as soon as you are out of here…", she smirked, "Yeah, sure…", Nick said through clenched teeth, "let's meet in the forest, you old slut, I'll bring a gun, a shovel and an alibi…" Brunhild laughed out loud, seemingly she was used to get insulted by her patients, "That's the spirit, sweetheart, the more you hate me, the quicker you'll be back on your feet…" They needed nearly half an hour to reach the corridor with Nick's room. Brunhild left them alone and Judy tried to motivate him for the last twenty meters. Nick laughed dryly when he saw another walking aid, just like the one he used, in front of the door. "Typical for this hospital bureaucracy", he said panting, "I had to sign some twenty forms to get this one and now they gave me two!"

They entered the room and found someone standing at the table reading Nick's get well cards. Nick gasped and stopped. The animal turned around slowly, it was an old fox, on his face a wide smirk Judy just knew too well. Nick just said, "Hi dad". A single tear ran from the left eye of the old fox, "Hi Nick" His voice was raspy, but dark and melodious. He limped to the visitor's chair and slumped down. While Nick laid down on his bed with Judy's assistence, his dad watched carefully. "You must be Judy, the famous cop", he said, "read a lot about you. Nice to meet you. My name is Peter Wilde." He lifted his left paw, "Sorry, but the right side of my body is gone already. Stroke, you know. Two years ago." She shook his paw, "Sorry to hear that, sir. I'm Judy Hopps, you're right, but now I'm more of an infamous cop", she grinned. Peter shook his head, "No, no, don't sir me, you can call me Peter. From what I've heard you'll become part of the family anyway!" – "Sir—I mean, Peter, I'm sorry that you have to read all this crap in the news…" – "No, I'm glad about it", he interrupted her, "Otherwise I never would have found Nick…" Nick grunted, "If you were so keen on contacting me, you could just have called the ZPD, they know my address. You knew that I'm a cop now." The old man just nodded, "Yeah, you are right. I could have called. And of course I know, I've read about it in the papers. And I got this…" He took out his purse and got out a card with the picture of the police academy on the front. "The invitation for my graduation ceremony…", Nick said, "But you didn't showed up…" – "I had to change my address twice since you ran… I mean, since we lost contact. This finally reached me two days after the ceremony. I'm sorry, son. However, you can not imagine how happy I was when I got this. My Nicky, a police officer! All this years I had always been afraid to find your name in the news, that one of these criminals you're dealing with shot you or that you've been arrested." He turned towards Judy. "And you… you are the one who made it happen. You believed in him. You have the same fire in your eyes as my wife had… Nick had it, too, when he was young, before he changed. I give a shit on what those stupid papers print. You are good for my Nicky, and when you two want to marry… go ahead, do it. Twenty years ago, I would have had a problem with it, you better believe it, but once you get older, you look at the greater picture, not at details. Fox, bunny, pred, prey… we are all animals, aren't we?"

"It mattered a lot when we tried to set up our business", Nick said after gulping down a big glass of water. "No one wanted to give us a loan because we are preds, even worse, foxes! They ruined your dream and I just couldn't stand it." Suddenly, the word 'redlining' came into Judy's mind from that article in the net. "You two wanted to open a business together?" she asked. Peter chuckled, "Yeah, Wilde & Son… Nick was five when his mother died… from this day, we did everything together. I was a tailor, you know. Taught him all I knew. He had some talent…" – "Naaah!", Nick interrupted, "Compared to you, I was shit." – "But it had been your idea to open a store where both pred and prey could find fine clothing… and the name 'Suit-topia'… that had been your idea, too." Both were laughing now. "Today there are some shops like this…", Judy said. "Yeah, today. But fourteen years ago – an outrage! No prey would walk in a pred store. Our idea was ahead of time.", Peter said. "Talking about time, it's time for my lunch nap. Here's my address, still haven't got a phone, you know I hate these things…", he got up slowly and limped to the door, smiling at Judy, "It has been a pleasure to meet you, young lady. Don't listen to others, do whatever your heart tells you." – "I always do", she replied. "May I come back for another visit?", Peter asked. Nick turned his head to look out of the window. After five seconds he just said, "Sure. Why not?"

The door closed and they heard him shuffle away with his walking aid. "Strange", Nick said, "so often I thought about what I would say to him when we meet… I wanted to shout at him, that it was all his fault and he just stopped living his dream, he never fought… but when he stood here, in this room… it suddenly seemed all so unimportant… I'm glad he came." Judy took his hand, "So, that's why your middle name is Peter", she said. Nick snorted, "That was mom's idea – dad wanted to name me after _his_ dad!" Judy smiled, "What was his dad's name?" He hesitated for a moment, then whispered "Piberius", Judy snorted. "See? Man, I'm glad my mom insisted on Peter." Judy's phone chimed and she took it out. "Talking of moms, my mom just sent a text… what the fuck?", she yelled. With wide eyes she turned the phone around so Nick could read the display: _Will arrive at 30 minutes in Savanna Central you pick me up? Mom._ "Seeing your reaction, you didn't knew she comes.", Nick said, "Hell, no, we haven't talked after… you know… dad fainted. Shit, she's never been in the city, they'll eat her alive… thirty minutes… from here I'll need at least… SHIT!" – "Use the police lights in the glove compartment", Nick said, but Judy replied, "Are you crazy, we are suspended! Sorry, gotta run!"

Fifteen minutes later she stood in front of red lights at Sousten and Walnut Street. "I'm never gonna make it!", she yelled when she heard a siren blaring from behind. In the empty right turn lane, a patrol car appeared in her mirror. When she just thought if she could risk tailgating it, the car came to a screeching halt right next to her. Tony the tiger grinned at her, "Hey, sunshine, need an escort to Savanna Central Station?" – "Why, yes, how do you know?" He turned on his thousand watt smile and showed his cell phone, "Nick just called me from the hospital!" – "You know, that's illegal, I am suspended!" He spat out, "I give a shit!" – "Okay, I have seven minutes to get to the station before my mom arrives. Can you make that?" Tony just laughed, "Which platform?", then he stepped on it. Judy followed.

Six minutes and forty-five seconds later Tony stopped his patrol car in front of the main gate, directly under the sign "Positively no parking". Judy pulled next to him and jumped out. "I'll wait here until you got back", yelled Tony but she was already inside. Of course, today of all days the train was on time. She spotted her mother, she stood in the middle of the platform with a small suitcase, shyly looking from left to right, obviously not daring to move. Hundreds of animals passed her left and right. "Mom!", she yelled. She could see instant relief on her mother's face. Bonnie embraced her daughter, "My goodness, Jude, what's going on here? Why are so many animals running around?" Judy smiled, "You should be here at rush hour. This is nothing. Welcome in the big city!" – "Jude, you are so thin! You don't eat enough, do you?" – "Mom, please… can we get out of here? I parked in a no parking zone…" – "You have a car?", Bonnie asked, "No… it's Nick's. See there, the little blue one in front of the stairs." Bonnie stopped and grabbed Judy's paw. "Jude… there's a tiger standing next to the car!" She looked shocked. "Mom, that's a friend of mine, a cop. He's cool." – "Really? It's just… I never saw a real one before… they are really huge…" – "Stop acting like a hillbilly… thanks for the help, Tony!" Tony grinned, "Sure. Bye, Judy! Bye, Judy's mom!" Open mouthed, Bonnie just nodded and got in the car. Judy hopped in the driver's seat and sighed. "Okay, mom, what's the deal? You come here, unannounced…" – "Hey, I sent you a text, didn't I?" – "Yeah, half an hour before you arrived! Normally I need a full hour in traffic to come here! But why did you come in the first place?" – "What do you think, young lady? I was worried sick! The papers are full of you, even on TV everyone talks about you and your… friend." – "Mom, he's my future husband, better get used to it!", hissed Judy. "Don't talk to me like that, missy, you're not too old for an ear twist!", Bonnie grabbed Judy's ear, pressed hard and turned it around. "Oww, ow, ow, ow, leggo, leggo, I'll crash the car!" She swerved out of her lane, so that a leopard in a business suit had to brake hard. Bonnie let go and Judy forced the car back in her lane. "Hey, get a license, you fucking cunt!", yelled the leopard. "Go home and suck yourself, you stupid prick!", Judy yelled back. She looked at her shell shocked mom, "What? Oh, that. Forget it, it's just… traditional traffic greeting! Are you hungry?" Bonnie nodded shyly, "Yes, very."

They stopped at Moose's Pizza Palace. Despite the grand name it was a small, dirty hut, crammed with animals of all kinds, but Judy liked the pizza they made. She had hoped the place was full and loud to postpone the due talk with her mother for the length of one meal. She immediately regretted this decision when Moose, the owner, lifted his large antlers and yelled, "Judy! Judy Hopps, our new celebrity! Come 'ere, sweetie, this place can't be so full that I haven't got a table for you…" He seated them on a tiny table in a corner, spat on it and polished with a dirty towel he pulled out of his pants. Bonnie looked disgusted, but when the pizza came she had to admit that it was really good. It was really loud in here and Moose really seemed to know every customer in person, yelling things like "Hey, Freddie, you old cocksucker, who let you out of the asylum?" Bonnie munched her pizza looking around full of amazement. In this 'restaurant' alone were more people than she used to meet in a month, own kids not included. When Moose threw the check on their table, Judy waved him close. "Sorry, Moose, but you subtracted ten percent police discount… but I am suspended, you know?" – "WHAT?", Moose shrieked, "Suspended? What for?" Several animals turned their head and Judy sank deep in her seat, "Please, Moose… you know… Nick and me…" – "NO SHIT!", he yelled again and this time the entire restaurant went silent, "THEY SUSPENDED YOU BECAUSE YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH A FOX?" The complete silence in the room made Judy sank deeper in her chair, her ears drooping down. Moose looked around and when he was sure he got everyone's attention, he proclaimed, "Okay, I'll tell you what, every customer eating at Moose's Pizza Palace who got suspended from police duty just because he or she wants to marry the animal he or she loves gets a fifty percent discount… ah, shit, an EIGHTY percent discount!" Again, complete silence. A good looking young bear in a blue overall stood up, "And put the rest on my tab, I treat her!", he roared. Moose nodded in his direction, "YOU are my man!" He took the check and ripped it to pieces. The bear applauded, looking around grimly. More and more animals stood up and started applauding. Judy wished herself in another universe.

"Why am I so stupid? Why haven't I just paid the stupid check? My damn honesty! Serves me right! Fuck, I can never set a foot in there again! And they have the best veggie pizza in town!" Judy drove through the city, swearing and shouting, while Bonnie sat next to her in silence. When they stopped at a light and Judy paused screaming to hammer her head against the wheel, Bonnie said, "But… the people in there had been nice to you… this Moose must really like you… we ate for free, didn't we?" Judy sighed, "Mom, please, you don't understand. Most people in there did _not_ applause. There are some people, like Moose or that bear who tolerate cross-species relationship, but the majority just thinks we are freaks or perverts." Bonnie remained silent. After some time she asked, "Are we going to the hospital now?" – "What? Why?" – "The main reason for my visit is to meet my future son-in-law, what did you think?" Judy looked at her mom, amazed, "I thought dad sent you to talk me out of this!" Bonnie laughed out loud, "As if we ever were able to talk you out of anything!" Judy turned left to get to the hospital. "And dad?", she asked. "He couldn't come, someone need to stay on the farm…" – "I meant, has he… accepted the fact, that I'm…" Bonnie sighed, "This is complicated. He loves you so much, you know. He wants the best for you, and he got used to the fact that you know very well what is good for you. He trusted you, even if he had not always understood… your decisions. But now… he was furious after he woke up, make no mistake about it. But suddenly…" Judy stopped the car in the parking lot in front of the hospital and Bonnie gawked at the thirty story building. "Don't tell me this is the hospital! It's bigger then all houses of Bunny Burrows when you stack them!" She looked at Judy, "Are so many people sick here?" Judy laughed and lead her through the maze of corridors and elevators until they reached Nick's room. When they entered she heard Nick laugh. His dad was there, too.

The situation was a bit awkward now, two foxes and two bunnies looking at each other, until Peter Wilde stretched out his left paw in Bonnie's direction, "Hello, my name is Peter Wilde, I am Nick's father. Sorry for using the left paw, the right is dead as a doornail. And you must be Judy's sister, I suppose?" To Judy's embarassment, Bonnie giggled lika a school girl, "Very charming of you, Mr Wilde, but I am Judy's mother, Bonnie Hopps!" – "Please, call me Peter!", he said and applied a kiss on her hand, producing another giggle. Bonnie turned to Nick, "Hello, Nick, I am sorry for crushing in uninvited. I do sincerely hope that you feel better now?" Nick smiled, "No, please, I am very happy you came so we could finally meet in person. Thanks, it's getting better every day. And sorry for causing all this trouble for you and your husband."

Bonnie was a bit stiff, but both Peter and Nick found the right mixture of charme and openness so she thawed and even shared the visitor's chair with Peter as he had offered her to sit there and she refused to let him stand. Judy sat down on Nick's bed. In the next two hours the young lovers told their entire story, correcting a lot of the stuff that had been in the papers. Of course, they left out some of the more spicy details, a fact that went not unnoted by the sharp Bonnie Hopps. "So, you two, what will you do about your love life? I don't think that you are… compatible, to use a modern word here." Peter lifted his left eyebrow and sent Bonnie an admiring look. "Have you thought about asking a doctor?", she continued. Judy's ears were bright red, "Moooom, please, could we change the subject?" But Bonnie was stubborn, "Don't tell me you have already tried… okay, your silence tells me you have! Judy, I must say! Before you have even been engaged to him? And Nick, really…" She shook her head but Judy put her paws in her hips, "Waaait a second! Before you start reprimanding us, we're both well over eighteen years… maybe you would like to tell Nick about _your_ first time?" Bonnie tried to interrupt her but Judy turned with a mean grin to Nick, "You must know, that my mom had her first time when she was a pre-teen!" – "Judy, this had been a completely different situation…" Now Bonnie's ears had turned scarlet. "WHAT? Why was it different? Grandpa Thlayli told me you had been eleven – ELEVEN – when Ronnie Digger had a go on you!" Bonnie hopped from the chair, "That is not… it had been two days before my twelfth birthday!" – "Ohhhh, that changes everything, of course! Nick, how old have you been two days before your twelfth birthday? Strange, I think I had been ELEVEN on that day!" – "But Judy, you telling it out of context… Nick, Peter, please don't think that I just… it is a little different with bunnies…" Bonnie looked helplessly from one to another. "Judy, you must explain about the special situation… female bunnies are in…" Judy gave a dry laugh, "No need to! Here lies the expert when it comes to bunnies bein in the heat, not true, Nick?" Nick reached over to his table and showed the old battered book. Bonnie took it. "The secret life of the bunnies?" Nick grinned, "Yeah, this guy explains everything in there… a bit old fashioned style, but still, very interesting – and rated PG for detailed mating descriptions – at least it would be by today's standards!" Bonnie sighed, still in defense, "Okay, then you know that young bunnies are in a difficult situation…" Judy intervened, "Yeah, but not all bunnies got pregnant three times before the age of fifteen, so grandma had to raise three litters of you… and you haven't even met dad by then…" Now Nick looked shocked, "Really? And your husband knows?" Bonnie sighed, "Nick, quite a lot of girls had gotten pregnant in their school time, Judy still being a virgin at above twenty is a very rare exception…" Judy nodded, "And giving that I don't think you have a right to complain about us here!" Nick shook his head, "When I think I wasted my school time at an all pred school… dad, you should have sent me to a bunny school, I bet I wouldn't have quit after sixth grade…" Bonnie buried her face in her paws, "I think, you have a complete wrong impression of what life is for a bunny at pre-adolescense, Nick. I am sorry, Mr Wil… I mean, Peter, you must have a terrible picture of me, thanks to my daughter!" – "Oh, no, quite the contrary, my dear Bonnie, however, Nick, could I borrow that book you have?" – "Sure, dad, don't waste your time with dry introductions, I have marked all the juicy parts…" – "Time-out!", yelled Bonnie, "Okay, change of subject! What will you two do about your suspension? Maybe you should get a lawyer. From what I have heard, they had no reason to suspend you, you did nothing wrong on duty, your private life has nothing to do with your success on duty."

Judy sighed, "We have not thought about it, yet. First priority is Nick's health. However, some friends of mine have started a thing on the internet…", she reported about Pronk's and Bucky's experiences. "If I may interrupt here…", Peter said, "as an old geezer, I spent a lot of time watching TV. On the first day after the Enquirer brought the story about you two being in love, it was horrible, that's true. But the mood on TV has changed a bit. There are certain voices that are not opposed to a cross-species marriage and they say it doesn't matter even if prey and predators do mix. Your relationship will not spoil the genetic pool as animals so different can't procreate. Hey, don't look at me this way, that's what they said on TV." – "By the way, mom, you started to tell me that dad had also changed his mind, or did I get this wrong?" – "Well," Bonnie shifted in her chair, "after that call of you, Nick, he was in a really bad mood… I won't repeat the things he said, he didn't mean them, you know… and suddenly, Fay appeared in the kitchen, started to yell at dad." Judy shook her head, "Wait, what? Fay left her ivory tower out of her own account? Fay yelled? At dad? I won't believe it if I hadn't heard it from you!" Bonnie turned to Nick, "Fay is Judy's sister, they are from the same litter." – "Oh, so they are twins", Peter said and Bonnie grinned, "No, bunnies don't say that… otherwise they would be quintuplets, it had been a litter of five." – "Say, how many kids do you have?", Peter asked, "Two hundred seventy six!", Bonnie answered proudly and Peters jaw dropped, at least the left half. "Wow", he could just say. "Fay is very shy and normally does not leave her room… it's a long story. But she loves Judy very much and she reminded Stu that his and my parents had also been not very happy about us getting married. She said things I never heard her say before… it was really freaky. And my husband has a very soft spot when it comes to Fay. He was heartbroken when his beloved daughter spoke to him that way. In the end he calmed down and agreed to wait and see what kind of animal Nick is."

Suddenly, Peter stood up. "I am hungry. Why don't you allow me to invite you to the cafeteria? They have a delicious mocca ice cream! And so our two love birds have a bit time for them…" – "A splendid idea", Bonnie grinned and took his arm, and off they walked. Nick and Judy heard the clanking sound of his walking aid and the giggling of Bonnie. "I love her", Nick said, "she is so much like you!" – "You really think that? I think she is so different…" He grabbed her and they kissed and for some minutes they forget all their trouble.


	20. Chapter 20 - The White Bunny

**Chapter 20 – The White Bunny**

After some discussion, they decided that Judy and Bonnie would spend the night at Nick's apartment. "My apartment is just too tiny. At least you have a big bed.", Judy said. "Okay, okay", Nick agreed, "but now tell me about your sister. She has convinced your dad to give me a chance, don't you think?" – "I don't know. As mom said, it's a long story…" Nick grinned, "I think I have enough time for all of us!" Judy sat on his bad and leaned against him, using his tail as a blanket. "When Fay and I were kids we were inseparable. You must know, she is an albino, other kids sometimes were mean to her as she looked so different. When she is with me, she is very funny, but she had always been shy as soon as others are present, except mom and dad, of course. When we were five years old, she got sick. We didn't noticed in the beginning, her behaviour changed, she said strange things and acted strangely, too. One day she cramped and vomited white foam, it was so horrible. We took her to the hospital, but they couldn't find the cause. She nearly died before they finally discovered that she got the White Blindness." Nick raised his eyebrow, "White Blindness? I think I read about this in that bunny book… I don't remember the details, though", he said. "Everyone thought that this sickness was extinct since forty years or so", Judy continued, "Therefore no one checked it when we brought Fay in the hospital. When they finally found out by mere coincidence it has nearly been too late. In earlier times, this sickness was always lethal, today they have a cure. They managed to save her life, but she got blind, hence the name. The doctors told us that her brain might have been damaged, too, she could suffer from changes in her personality."

Judy took a deep breath. "When she came back home, she got a room on her own. Normally we kids used to live in the burrow, this is a large structure below our farm. As I was the only person she talked to in the beginning, I got a single room, too, next to hers. She is always in her room, she never goes outside, she is too afraid. Even though she is blind she is able to walk through our farm. Dad said, she sometimes comes down in the kitchen when he is alone in there. But otherwise, she talks to no one and is extremely afraid of strangers. Mom brings her food in her room. Sometimes she came in my room, not saying anything, just sitting next to me. She was so happy when I managed to get into police academy. That was the last time she spoke to me." Nick thought for some seconds, then said, "But at least her personality hasn't changed – or has it?" Judy shook her head, "I really can't say. There are times, when she seems to be happy, then it is nearly as it used to be. But sometimes she seems so… I can't say, so sad, so worried. And sometimes she says things no one understands. It is a bit creepy, sometimes. And then there was the harvest incident…"

"It was nine years ago, on a Saturday, August the 12th, I will never forget that. Everyone in the house was excited as we want to start harvesting the carrots on Monday. It would take us most of the week, it is a mixture of hard work and a holiday celebration, everyone is helping – the biggest event of the year when you live on a carrot farm. All the kids were looking forward to it, me too, of course, even Fay talked about it. But on that Saturday, short after midnight, she started screaming in her sleep. I got up and walked over to her room to wake her and calm her down. These nightmares were haunting her from time to time, maybe four or five times a year. But this time it was different. I couldn't wake her, she was trashing around, screaming at the top of her lungs, mom and dad had come, too. When we had finally been able to wake her, she continued to cry and scream, telling us we had to start harvesting right now. My dad cradled her in his arms like a baby, telling her that they would start first thing on Monday morning, but she kicked him and screamed and yelled at him that it would be too late then. In the meantime everyone on the farm was wide awake. We took her down in the kitchen but she didn't calm down. After half an hour my brother suggested that we should start then, no one would be able to sleep and when this would calm her down… When we dressed and got out, she insisted on coming with us, that was a sensation as she hadn't left the building in the last five years or so. She insisted to go with dad and so he put her on the side seat of his tractor and we started harvesting – in the dark!"

"That year, the harvest was no fun at all. She won't let us pause, said we needed to hurry and some of my siblings were pretty mad at her for spoiling the fun. I must admit I was a bit angry, too. I was thirteen, so I was standing on the trailer, sorting stones, dirt, weed and bad carrots out from the conveyor belt, a loud and hard work, you got shaken a lot as the tractor had to go quite quickly. After six hours bumping in the trailer I was covered in bruises and my paws were bleeding like hell. In addition, it was a bright, hot summer day, we all were soaked with sweat. One of my younger sisters who helped me had sat down on the floor, completely exhausted, crying, so I had to do her work on top of that."

"After nine hours, at half past ten in the morning, my mom brought out a late breakfast for us and my dad insisted on having half an hour break. Suddenly, Fay hit him hard in the face, with extended claws, he was bleeding and she yelled at him, she called him names, said we had no time for this. Dad tried to hold her, but she kicked free then stormed the table, throwing everything in the dirt, stomping on it, rampaging like a wild elephant. I sat on the floor, crying, pleading at her to let us have a break. She came to me and kicked me hard in the chest. I couldn't believe it. She used to be the sweetest, softest person on earth, but here she stood, furious, gnarling at me, calling me a lazy bitch, threatened me, said she would kill me when I wouldn't get up. She had kicked me so hard, I was peeing blood for two days."

"But why?", Nick asked, "Did she not say why?" – "No. In the end, we obeyed her, what choice did we had? At six pm we walked back to the farm like zombies, 150 bunnies. We had worked for sixteen and a half hours straight and brought in the entire crop, we usually need three and a half days for it, with a lot of eating, celebrating and dancing in between. I had never worked that hard my whole life and neither had any other in my family. Fay was frantic to the last minute. When we emptied the last trailer of carrots in the sileage, she suddenly nodded, gave her sweetest smile and said in her usual firendly voice, "Thanks for helping!" Then she fell asleep. When dad carried her upstairs it started to rain outside. Two hours later the storm started, it lasted the entire Sunday. On Monday morning it had rained more than usually in four month. Everything was under water, all of our fields. We would have lost everything. Most of our neighbors had. In the news they later said, it was a freak storm, there had been no signs of a weather like this, therefore no one could have known in advance. Ninety percent of the harvest was gone, carrot prices skyrocketed and dad made a lot of money as we were the only farm who could deliver. He used the money to give cheap loans for the other farmers so they could rebuilt their farms."

"Wow!", Nick said, "That was very kind of him. But how did she know that?" – "No one knows, including herself. On Monday morning she came into my room, asking me 'Shouldn't the harvest start today?' She had completely forgotten what had happened over the weekend. And I envied her, it took me three full weeks until I was back to normal and all my wounds had healed. We never mentioned anything to her, but from this day on, my dad listened very carefully to everything she said. But something as spectacular as that never happened again. Some small things, of course, like she said 'Oh dad, I would buy a new carburator for the big tractor when you are in town' and two months later, he needed the carburator when the tracor broke down in the middle of the harvest – things like that. Dad joked that she never told him the winning numbers of the lottery. And she just said with her eerie voice, 'Oh, well, I could… but the money would bring us no good fortune and destroy our family' After that, he never played the lottery again."

"Man, I'd like to meet her!", Nick said. Judy laughed, "I am sorry, but I don't think you ever will. As I said, she is very shy and don't like strangers – thinking of her talking to a fox, no, I don't think so." – "She must be very lonely. I feel sorry for her." – "I don't know. Sometimes I think she's in another world. The strange things she talks about… sometimes I am afraid to ask what she sees in her head." Judy got up from Nick's bed as she heard the clanking of Peter Wilde's walking aid. The strange pair came in, the fox and the bunny. Both were smiling, obviously they had a great time. Judy was glad that Nick's dad was an old fashioned gentleman. Bonnie said that she was quite tired now, so they decided to call it a day. It took Judy nearly an hour and a half to drive to Nick's apartment as rush hour was in full progress on the streets of Zootopia. Her mom shook her head, "I could never drive a car here. They are all insane! So many lanes, so many rules… there must be hundreds of accidents!" – "Yeah, we have quite a few, but most are fender benders. You get used to it." – "Me? Never!"

Bonnie looked at awe at the industrial building where Nick's apartment was in. Judy tried her best to explain the unusual living situation, when she arrived at his door and noticed it was open. She was a hundred percent sure, she had closed and locked the door. She reached down to her right side, but there was no gun, of course, as she was suspended. The lights were on and when she slowly opened the door, she saw a huge polar bear standing in Nick's living room. "Come in, Judy, don't be afraid, it's me!", she heard a small high-pitched voice call out. Fru-Fru stood on the small table in Nick's living room, a small stroller next to her. Behind her stood a small chair and the former crime boss, formerly known as Mr Big sat inside it, hands folded. "Buongiorno Judy, cara mia!", he greeted her. "Hi Luigi, hi Fru-Fru!", Judy said relieved. "Mom, come in, these are friend of mine." She introduced her mother and Bonnie received a kiss on her paw from Luigi. He had asked Nick and Judy to call him Luigi as he didn't use the name Mr Big anymore ("Sounds like a criminal", he had said and laughed). "How did you get in?", Judy asked carefully. "I own this building. Didn't you know? Nick got that apartment from me", Luigi said. While he spoke, Fru-Fru had gotten her daughter, little Judy, out of her stroller. "My, has she grown! Mom, I have told you about my godchild, here she is!" The little arctic shrew turned her head away from the giant creatures and hid her face at her mother's shoulder. "She's still quite shy", Fru-Fru said apologetically. Luigi cleared his throat, "Judy, we came here because we have bad news and good news. I didn't wanted to bother Nick in the hospital, so I came here to inform you. Nick must look for a new apartment as soon as possible. I can't have him here any longer." Judy's first thought was that he would kick Nick out because of his love affair with her but bit her tongue before she could say anything to Luigi. The former crime boss still had a hot temper and it was very easy to insult him. And indeed, he said, "I have sold the building. Actually, I sold it to myself, to another one of my companies. I need a production site for my new cell phone product line and this building is perfect for it. I'm sorry. Of course, I'll do anything to help him find something new. Fru-Fru will deliver the good news." – "I will organize your wedding!", she piped. "What?", Bonnie and Judy said simultaneously. "Yes, I have opened my new business. I am a wedding planner now! My own wedding was so much fun, I had the idea to do that for a living! And when I read in the news that you two would like to marry, I decided that you will be my first customers. I already have made some drawings of your dress. I have planned with about six hundred guests and…" – "Wait, wait, wait!", Judy shouted, "Fru-Fru, that's very nice of you, I really do appreciate that, but we haven't even registered for marriage yet and we don't know if the city will allow us to! And we don't have a date for the marriage, and neither Nick nor me know six hundred people. And we may probably lose our jobs and we won't be able to pay you!" Fru-Fru let out a hig laugh, "Oh, this is no problem. I have convinced dad to give me an unlimited budget for your wedding, reminding him that without you he wouldn't even have neither daughter no granddaughter now!" – "Well, it's not unlimited…", Luigi intervened, then he smiled, "… but nearly." – "And every celebrity of Zootopia would like to be there! The wedding of the century!" Judy sat down, "I don't think so, Fru-Fru. Haven't you read the news lately? They all hate us! They think we are some kind of perverts!" – "No, they don't. They just need some time to get accustomed to prey marrying preds, that's all!" Judy sighed, "I'd like to have your optimism. Let's postpone this subject until further notice, okay?", Judy suggested.

After some idle talk, the polar bear servant took the three shrews in his giant paw and walked silently out of Nick's apartment. "There are strange animals here in the city!", Bonnie said. She had cooked and had been able to prepare quite a decent dinner from the things she had found in the kitchen. While they ate, Judy switched on the TV – and started choking. The news channel showed a picture of her and Nick, arm in arm. It was a primitive montage out of their graduation photos from police academy. Bonnie had to slap her on the back and when she finally got the maccaroni out of her nose, she was able to listen: "… the city council still discussing legislative for pred-prey marriages, but had come to no conclusion as the frontiers are hardened. In front of the town hall there had been a demonstration meanwhile. Police said, about six thousand animals had protested, all in favor of mixed-species marriage. Mayor Lionheart announced today…" Judy switched the channel. "Really! Don't they have any other problems?" She flipped through the program until she saw Felix Copperhead, a famous squirrel stand-up comedian. "Maybe he will make us laugh", she sighed. Felix stood on a stage, a large magnifying glass in front of him, so the audience could see the tiny figure. He smiled in the camera with his pearl white teeth. "I open the papers and everywhere I just read Judy here, Nick there. So I told my girlfriend, hey, aren't there other problems to solve?" Judy nodded, "Yeah, exactly what I said!" – "He can't hear you…" – "Mom, I know!" The squirrel on the screen looked earnest, "Before we change the laws, there are other things to address. Okay, folks, what do you get when a fox and a bunny do mate? Is it a box – or is it funny?" The audience roared with laughter, "And how do you call a fox that likes to go out with a bunny? A prey-dater!" The audience went hysteric again and Judy switched off the TV furiously, getting even more angry when she saw her mother smile. "What, do you think this is funny? The whole world laughing about my love life?" Bonnie tried to calm her down, "He's just joking… and you must admit, a prey-dater…", she chuckled again. "Great, thanks a lot, mom!" She crossed her arms and looked the other way when her phone rang. It was Pronk, "Judy, quick, turn on the TV!" – "I just turned it off, when you mean Copperhead, I don't think this is…" – "No, no, no, channel 67, quick, our bomb will explode in five minutes!", yelled Pronk. "What? A bomb? Are you insane?" – "Wait, does Nick have a TV on his room? Yes? I need to call him, bye, Judy!" – "Hey, Pronk, wait! What about a bomb? Fuck, he switched off! Are they all crazy now?" She turned the TV on again on channel 67. It was a music channel airing a Gazelle concert live. "What does that mean?", she asked confused. Bonnie looked at her, "Could your friends have planted a bomb there?" – "No, they could never do a thing like that… at least I hope." She tried to call him back, but the line was busy. Helplessly she watched Gazelle, the famous singer, ending her song. When the audience stopped applauding and cheering, she took the microphone, "Something is going on in this town!", she said, "Two animals are in love but some other animals are harrassing them, insulting them, trying to keep them apart!" Judy sighed, "Et tu, Gazelle?", she asked quietly. "You all know who I mean", the singer continued, "I talk about the two heroes who are not just fighting the crime in our beautiful city, but no, they fight for the right of every mammal that has ever fallen in love with another species. Is that a crime? Can this be wrong?" The audience cheered and Bonnie hit Judy's arm. "Ouch, mom!" – "Judy, she talks about you! The famous Gazelle talks about my Judy, imagine that! Oh, I hope someone records this!" – "Shh, quiet!" Gazelle silenced the audience with a raised hoof, "My new song is named 'Love knows no frontiers'. I will sing it now for two fighters in love. Nick and Judy, this is for you! Fight on! You are not alone!" The lights dimmed down until the stage was dark and the only small circle of light was around the thompson gazelle. The music started. It was a soft ballad. "Oh Judy, isn't this great? I love her, she has such a beautiful voice! And she sings just for you!" Judy snorted sarcastically, "Yeah, and for the other 55 million mammals in front of the screen… oh, here's Pronk again…", she pressed her phone, "So, this is your bomb?", she asked yawning, "No, no, wait til after the song, Judy, there's more! Shit, the community just freaks out, I got over 200 texts in the last forty seconds! Had to go!" And the line was dead again. "What does he mean, there's more?", Bonnie asked. "Beats me", Judy sighed, "The whole world is going crazy…"

They listened to the song, anxious of what was about to happen. When the last note vibrated through the stadium and the audience started to applaude, Gazelle lifted her hoof again. When it was silenced, she grabbed the microphone, but didn't say anything. "Oh my god, Judy, look, she's crying!", Bonnie yelled. In fact, Judy saw the tears falling out of her large eyes, smearing her make-up. There were more than 50,000 mammals in the stadium, but it was completely silent now. Huge screens everywhere showed the crying face of the singer. "Some of us…", she started, but her voice failed and she tried again, "Some of us are living in the shadow, not daring to confess about what should be only natural. And then came Judy, a bunny, fearless, claiming her right to live with the animal she loves. And suddenly there was hope among all animals who have to hide, to lie, to deny, to trick, to think of excuses, just because they claim the right to choose a partner that was not born in the same species."

Her voice trembled and now she tears flowed freely, ruining her make-up so she looked more like a raccoon than a gazelle. "Why is she…", Bonnie asked, "Shhhh!", Judy interrupted as Gazelle continued, "When a small bunny can be so courageous, she should set an example for all of us. All of you animals in love with someone from another species, no matter if pred or prey, come out of the shadow you've been hiding in! At least, I will…" She suddenly looked to her right and stretched out her right hoof, "Oh, no…", Judy said and Bonnie held her paw in front of her mouth, "I don't believe this!" One of Gazelle's tiger dancers came forward and reached for her painted hoof. "Rick and me, we've been in love since two years, a love covered with lies and dishonesty, but now, thanks to Judy and Nick we will stand in the light! Rick, I love you!" The tiger nodded, "I love you, too!" Just in the exact second when the audience went berserk as their lips approached, the screen went black. "What the fuck…", Judy said. A text screen appeared: "Technical difficulties. We are working on the problem and apologize for any inconveniences!" She looked at her mom but before she could say anything her phone started ringing again. "Pronk, what in the name…" – "Did you see that?", he yelled, "we made it, we made it!" – "Yeah, but they censored it away!", Judy intervened, but Pronk was euphoric, "That was the best part! Now everyone will watch it on the net! Wait and see!" Judy sighed, "Okay, but how in the world did you guys now in advance what would happen there?" Bucky took over, "Gazelle is secretly supporting our web community. She wanted her coming-out for months but looked for a good opportunity. When you and Nick came up, the media attacked you at first, but the average animal on the street had sympathy for you, so the mood had changed over the last days. To announce it today was ideal, we think this will be the final drop that made the barrel overflow. We still need to find out who decided to censor the TV show, this may create even more momentum!" Judy was impressed. She had underestimated the strange pair of neighbors, obviously these two had great connections via the internet. Suddenly, another name from the net came to her mind. "Say, Bucky, do you know an animal named H. Badger? Publishing web sites with conspiracy theories…" Pronk came back on the phone, "I know the sites of H. Badger, but don't know who's behind them. Could be a badger, of course, but could also be some other animal who chose the name to fool others." – "Do you believe in Badger's theories?" Pronk thought for a moment, "Hm. Some of them are insane, I think, but some sound more plausible… as they say, there is a grain of truth in the weirdest theory! But we will go now, we just learned that the first demonstration has started in front of the TV station – we have organized flash-mobs city-wide! So long, Judy!" – "Wait, what…", but the line was already dead.

Bonnie looked at her daughter, "Jude, I must say, you have made a lot of strange friends since you are living here!" Judy quickly explained to her the situation with her neighbors. Bonnie was puzzled, "Are there any animals in this city that have quiet, normal lifes?", she asked.


	21. Chapter 21 - Mayhem in the City

**Chapter 21 – Mayhem in the City**

Judy and Bonnie shared Nick's large bed for the night. Maybe it was that nostalgic feeling that induced a deep dreamless sleep despite all the commotion the evening before. While Bonnie took a shower, Judy checked her phone, sighing when she saw 94 new messages. She scrolled through them, most were status reports from Pronk and Bucky who seemed to have been outside all night. Nick, Bren and Bogo had all sent similar mails, warning her to stay away from the hospital as reporters and demonstrants were besieging all entrances. She didn't even dared to turn on the TV. Bonnie came out of the shower. "What a nice apartment Nick has. What a shame he has to give it up! It's a bit like the burrow under our farm, isn't it?", she said. Bonnie insisted on going outside checking the situation in front of the building and getting some buns for breakfast.

When she came back half an hour later, she had not only brought four huge paper bags which contents smelled delicious, but also three newspapers. She hadn't seen anyone suspicious in front of the building, much to Judy's relief. She opened the Zootopia Standard:

 _OUTRAGE AT POP CONCERT CAUSES MAYHEM_

 _It has been a busy night for Zootopia Police Forces everywhere in the city. The trouble started when at 9.14 pm famous pop icon Gazelle (29) spontaneously announced her relationship to a member of her tiger dance group during a concert in Zootopia Grand Stadium that was aired live on ZMC (Zootopia Music Channel). Directly after that announcement, the TV show came to an abrupt end, 'due to technical problems', as owner of ZMC, Victor Sergejewich Lugashvili (67, bear) said later, even though he was unable to say what kind of technical problems had occurred. As soon as the news spread in the audience, around 55,000 fans left the stadium and marched to the 2 mile distant Town Hall, protesting against what they call 'censorship'. At the same time, several other demonstrations started everywhere in the city. At least some of them were organized by members of a so-called 'Gay/Lesbian/Transgender/Cross-species internet community' via flash-mobs. Police later estimated that nearly 200,000 citizens of Zootopia joined these demonstrations. Twelve police officers and 39 demonstrants received minor injuries, more than 300 animals were temporarily arrested._

 _Rumors spread, that the Zootopia minister of the interior, Charles H. Lithcomb IV. (59, yak) has ordered to stop the transmission of Gazelle's concert after she and Ricardo 'Rick' Juao Coimbra de la Coronilla y Azavedo (27, tiger) openly declared love to each other. A 'huge fan', who wants to remain anonymous, said, 'That was so romantic! Everyone cried and we all took pics of them! I just don't understand why those officials can't let them be! Who gets hurt when a singer loves a dancer or two cops love each other? Who cares if they are different species? This is still a free country, isn't it?' Mayor Lionheart announced an investigation regarding the TV blackout and promised 'consequences'. For more details refer to pages 2 through 7, 16, 22, 24 and 34._

"The good thing is", said Judy while sipping her café latte, "that my name is not even mentioned in here, now they just talk about 'two cops'. I can't believe how many people followed this web-community lead by Bucky and Pronk!" They still sat at the table enjoying their late breakfast when Judy's phone rang. Kitty was standing in front of the house and called as there was no doorbell. It was nearly 11 am now, so she already had her meeting with Bogo. Judy was sure the cat had come to tell her of the outcome. When Judy opened the door, she was sure that Kitty got fired as for the first time she was not wearing uniform. But she looked rather happy. Judy brought her up and introduced her to her mother. "I know you!", Bonnie said, "You have been on the cover of Farmer's Vogue last year! My husband Stu never buys this normally, said he wanted to read the article about the new tractors but I think he was more interested in you sitting on the hood!" Kitty laughed, "Oh, that, I remember, I was practically naked, just had that slutty bikini, but it was winter and I nearly froze to death on that damn tractor!"

Judy had to admit that Kitty really looked awesome wearing a light blue short summer dress that accentuated her curvy figure perfectly and matched her enormous sapphire eyes. "Okay, how did your meeting with Bogo go?", Judy asked but Kitty shook her head, "No, first things first. Where should I begin? Bogo was invited to a town hall meeting yesterday evening. Obviously, the opposition of Mayor Lionheart in the council planned to somehow revoke the decision of awarding you and Nick the Service Medal in Gold, First Class!" Bonnie raised her eyebrow, "A medal? That's new to me!" Judy explained and showed her the letter. "This is great news, Judy! Why haven't you told us? Dad will be so proud!" – "Yeah, but obviously they have changed their mind, haven't they?", Judy asked Kitty. "It is not so easy. A resolution is needed to award such a high medal and once passed it is not so easy to revoke it again. Currently, we have a stalemate in the city council, the mayor's party and his opposition both have eight votes, but you need nine to pass a resolution. Some argued, that it is not allowed to pass another resolution opposing the content of a former one." Kitty took a deep breath. She had a small piece of paper in her hand with a list of items. "Lithcomb, the minister of the interior and commander-in-chief of the ZPD is the head of the opposition. He says that you and Nick need to be dishonorably discharged from police duty as you have disgraced the police!" Bonnie went furious, "How can he say that? My Judy has never done anything disgraceful!" Judy answered her question, "It's easy, mom: he cannot simply revoke the resolution but if Nick and I got fired from ZPD, the resolution would never be executed." Kitty nodded, "Exactly. He wanted to vote for you two getting discharged and Bogo had been invited to report on you two, they wanted to find anything that could make it easier for them to fire you, but of course, Bogo said nothing like that. He praised you as the best two officers he'd ever had!" Kitty grinned.

"But, unfortunately, it looked like Lionheart's group was wavering, at least one of his party spoke about changing sides. It looked pretty bad for you, to be honest, but then Bogo stood up and said, if they would fire you and Nick, he would resign with immediate effect as chief of ZPD!" Judy was shocked, "Oh my god! He really did that? What if they had accepted? Kitty, go on, what happened then?" – "If he really had resigned, that would have caused an uproar in the ZPD, as Bogo is very popular. After some discussion, they decided to postpone the voting. And some hours later, there was the incident at Gazelle's concert! Immediately after they stopped the airing of the concert, Bogo interrogated the owner of the network, threatening him with charges for tampering with the Freedom of Information Act and he spit out that Lithcomb himself had ordered him to stop the transmission!"

"Wow", Judy just said, "Is he authorized to do such a thing?" – "No, he's not! Bogo informed the mayor immediately and Lionheart took the chance to re-establish his power in the city council – he fired Lithcomb, lifted his immunity and ordered Bogo to arrest him! This happened at 7 am in the morning, so it hadn't hit the news yet. There will be a press conference at noon, in less than one hour." – "How come you know all about that?" Kitty shrugged, "Bogo told me, of course, we had our meeting this morning…" – "Tell me all about it! Wasn't he mad at you?" Kitty closed her eyes and sighed. "I can't tell you how afraid I was. Have not slept a minute last night… All those months in the police academy for nothing if he fires me… So, first thing I did was to apologize, of course. He had been right, I hadn't had enough sleep when I yelled at him, but I was not looking for an excuse. He just nodded and said, 'Let's forget about it – I have an offer to make!' He said, that he couldn't care for the ZPD as much as he would do, he had to attend to too many things, duty roster, personal files, reading report sheets and so on. He said he had plans for re-organizing the ZPD but he must have help, someone who takes all the other routine things away from him. So he had asked for an assistant – and he offered that job to me!" Kitty jumped from the chair, excited as a little kid. Judy frowned. If Bogo had offered this job to her she had refused it in a second. She loved being on the streets of Zootopia, but obviously Kitty thought different. "Think about it, Judy, no more driving around in a hot car with a moaning rhino, but being in a climatized office! As an intern, I will wear these cute office uniforms, they even have a mini skirt! And I am allowed to go barefoot, no more wearing these fucking hard safety shoes, no more puss in boots!" She danced around Judy and Bonnie, laughing. "I will start 1st of July, isn't that great?" Judy hugged her, "I am so happy for you, Kitty. I really thought he will kick you out." Kitty shook her beautiful head, "No, actually he's quite nice – he told me everything that had happened these last days, he was so friendly to me. I think most people just see his hard shell, but I'm pretty sure he has a soft core." Judy was not so sure about it, but who was she to judge?

As Judy wanted to stay indoors, just in case, she asked Kitty if she would like to show her mother around in town. Kitty was delighted and she also promised to go and visit Nick. As soon as Bonnie and Kitty had left the apartment, she called Nick. She didn't told him much as she didn't wanted to spoil the fun for Kitty to tell him everything. Instead she asked him if he had a computer in his apartment. She wanted to continue her researches and her phone was just too small for this. "Yeah, I have a laptop in the drawer under the TV. It's not the newest model, but still fast enough. What do you need it for?" – "Oh, maybe watching some movies…", she said vaguely as she didn't wanted to tell him about her investigation yet. She didn't even know if the whole tame collar business was real or just a creepypasta. "It's password protected, so get something to write…", he told her the password. "So, I won't find any nasty photos on it, from ex-girlfriends?", she teased him. "No, you can do whatever you want with it, there's nothing personal on it – at least, nothing compromising… oh, I nearly forgot, Ironbeard was here today, they will release me on Monday, and two weeks later I will be able to work again… if I am not suspended still." – "Hey, Nick, that's great news! That's in three days! I am so happy! I miss you in my bed at night…" He whispered some naughty things in her long ear that made her blush. "Don't promise things you cannot deal with!", she giggled.

Later, she started up Nick's laptop. She didn't found a mouse so she had to use the touchpad. She didn't like it, her paws could work much better with a real mouse. She opened a web browser and typed "H. Badger" in the search line… at least she thought she had, when she looked on the screen, the search field was empty. This damned touchpad, she had entered it in the file explorer instead. She wanted to press escape when the laptop beeped. The search results showed her a file on Nick's hard disc, named "Address book". Should she open it? Why had Nick something about this mysterious guy on his laptop? But he said, she could use it, hadn't he? She double clicked the file. It was a list of numerous names, addresses and in some cases, photos. Some sheets had notes in it, like "Don't call before noon!" or "Always broke!", one even read "ASSHOLE!" She searched for her own name, but it was not in it. The last entry had been made more than a year ago. She typed "Badger" and got a sheet named "Honey Badger". On the sheet were several addresses and phone numbers, all cell phones, a snapshot of a badger sitting on a chair in what looked like a cave. She was stout, maybe in her forties, wore camouflage pants and a tank top. Another photo showed her arm in arm with Nick, smiling shyly in the camera. She looked closely at the pic, but somehow she didn't feel like she had discovered something bad here. Even though they were arm in arm, they didn't looked like lovers. Both had beer cans in their free paws. More like buddies. The note field was full of text, mainly information when to reach her where. Another phone number, labelled "In Emergency only!" The last one made her gasp, "What THEY don't want you to know!", followed by a web address and some jumble letters and symbols. A password? She typed in the address in the browser window and in fact, she reached the web site she had seen before, but this time a small window appeared, "MEMBER AREA" with a blank field. She typed in the code. The screen turned black. What was that? Was there something loading? Just when Judy was about to close the black window, a text appeared in the upper left corner:

Hey, Nick, long time no see… t'is true, UR a cop now? Strange shit in the papers… all lies?

Oh my god, this was a kind of chat room and here she was, H. Badger herself, chatting with her as she thought it was Nick. What should she do? Should she try to pretend to be Nick? Should she ask questions? Carefully she typed:

Hi

The answer appeared immediately:

?

Fuck, this was not going well… She closed the window. What should she do? She wanted to know the truth, so she re-opened the window and entered the password again.

*** WRONG PASSWORD ***

She tried three times carefully re-typing the password, but always got the same answer. When her phone rang, she shrieked. It was Nick! She answered, but before she could say anything, Nick said: "What are you doing, carrots? What do you want from Honey Badger?"

[Note from author: Tomorrow, I'll be on vacation for two weeks, so you'll have to wait for the next one… see ya in two weeks, stay tuned! Continue writing your cool reviews, appreciate them!]


	22. Chapter 22 - Strange Stories

**Chapter 22 – Strange Stories**

It was still well before noon, but the reporters and TV teams standing in front of the main entrance of the Zootopia General Hospital used every available shadow to flee from the heat. They had waited here since midnight with the faint hope of getting interesting pictures. Nick Wilde, one half of the now famous cop duo was lying in here, recovering from his injuries after the car theft shooting. Their bosses had sent them here in order to get pictures of either visitors of Nick, his parents, maybe even his mate, Judy Hopps or of demonstrations for or against mixed raced marriages. There was a small group of mammals protesting, but they had already filmed them and they were calm, so no big news here. One ferret reporter looked up and smacked his camera camel when he saw a bunny hopping towards the main entrance. The camel, one of the very few who welcomed the heat of the sun, spit out. "Naah, look at her, the nurse outfit. That's that bunny nurse, we've seen her before…" Motionless they watched the petite mammal using her hospital badge to open the small door next to the main antrance marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY". The ferret slumped back in the shadow wiping the sweat off his forehead. The camel grinned, "You do not drink enough, look at me, 90 gallons each morning, thirsty or not!"

Judy closed the door and looked around. Some people were walking around here, but nobody looked at her closer. The uniformed guard at the small desk yawned and gave her a quick look before his face turned back to his smartphone. "Morning, Bren!" he said. "Morning!", Judy replied in a bad imitation of Bren's high voice, but the guard wore earplugs and just pressed the button in front of him. The door in front of Judy hummed and she opened it. Phew! She was glad that Bren had helped her pulling off this stunt as Nick had been quite firm in telling her that she must come as quickly as possible, press or not. He had not scolded her (yet) for using the secret password to Honey Badger's website, he just said, "I have her on the other line, she is about to blow up everything, so tell me why you tried to contact her, quick!" After she told him the truth in three sentences, the waiting music was on. After one minute, he was back and just said "Come here, we must talk. I know I told you not to come, but this is important. I am sure you can sneak past the press guys." Than he had hung up without a further word. Judy couldn't even say, if he was pissed or not. She felt very bad.

She sneaked through the corridors avoiding other animals until she reached the door of Nick's room. He was sitting upright in his bed – and he smiled! "Hey, that was quick. Clever costume, courtesy of Bren, I presume?" Before she could answer, he turned to his right, "You can come out now, I told you, you can trust her." From under the bed appeared the badger Judy had seen on the picture in Nick's address book. Funny, she wore exactly the same clothes, camouflage pants and tank top. She looked not very friendly at Judy, "So, lady, I hope you have a good excuse for scaring the shit out of me. You don't know how close you've been to burn down half the city!" – "I'm sorry, but I don't understand…", Judy said. Nick explained, "Our Honey here, she is a bit… paranoid, and…" – "Hey, I'm not paranoid, I'm cautious. The government is trailing my ass and…" – "Yes, yes, ok, to make a long story short, Honey's secret hideout is mined with hundreds of phosphor bombs – all her computers, all her files… and when she thinks that someone is behind her, she just needs to push a button and the whole place gots cremated in no time." – "Yeah, for example when cops break into my member area using Nick's access code!" Honey said. "Especially after I heard that Nick is now part of the system, too! I still don't know if I can still trust you…" Nick put his paw on her shoulder. "Honey, after all we've been through? I would never give my code to someone who will do you harm, I told you, I had forgotten it was still on this old laptop, and even if I had remembered, I would never had assumed that Judy would search for it." Now it was Judy's turn to give an explanation. She told them the full story, starting with Ironbeard's cryptic remark about the tame collars. "So", she summed up, "your page, Honey, told me that there is a conspiracy to force tame collars on all predators to control them… but why had it never happened?" – "They got cold feet, of course. But they never stopped the plan, they just postponed it. Currently, under mayor Lyinghard, this will never happen, of course, as he is a predator himself. But you have experienced yourself how quickly that could change, Bellwether had a good plan, it failed just because of you two guys", Honey said. "And most animals knowing about this are pretty sure that there is a secret storehouse somewhere in Zootopia where millions of tame collars are stored and waiting for the day someone decides to use them on us predators." Judy shook her head, "I don't think that this will ever happen. Predators would fight against it, wouldn't they?" Honey laughed, "Sorry, sweetheart, but you are a bit naïve. Sure they would. But what helps? Predators have fought against discrimination for decades and we still earn less, work more, have difficulties getting loans and so on… most preds know they have to play along to get by." – "But the mayor is a predator, too…" – "Oh, yeah, great! Who has installed him? Prey of course. He could never have become the mayor without support from the prey members of the city council. They are pulling his strings!"

The discussion went on, but Judy did not get to know anything new. Honey said good bye and sneaked out of the hospital again. "How come you know her so well?", Judy asked and Nick grinned, "She may act tough but she is the good spirit of all us small animals living on the street… when I ran away from home at age twelve, I lived on the street. Honey took me in, allowed me to stay at her place until I found some other place where I could stay for free. After I moved to my own place, we always stayed in contact. She may be a bit crazy with all these conspiracy theories of hers, but she is good as gold."

Judy's cell phone chimed and she switched on the speaker when she saw Kitty's face on the display. "Great news!", gasped Kitty who was obviously very excited. "Chief Bogo just called. Lionheart has just made him interim Minister for Interior affairs and one of his first actions was to immediately revoke your suspensions. I hereby inform you officially that you need to be in the bull pen at 8 pm today, Judy. Nick, you are still on sick leave, of course." – "Wow!", said Nick, "But who will be new police chief, then?" – "Bogo will remain chief of ZPD – he will fill both offices until a new minister is appointed by Lionheart! Man, I will have a lot to do the next weeks!", Kitty sighed, "I will also be in the office tonight, so I'll see you. We'll be at Nick's place in half an hour, I am sorry, but I have to drop your mom there, I'll have a lot of things to do now! See ya!", she disconnected the line before Judy or Nick could say anything. "So, looks like things are going up again!", Nick grinned, "And don't forget, I'll be out of here on Monday, then I have two more weeks until I need to go back to work again. We'll need to find a new place for us." Judy had informed him that Luigi needed him to move out of 1955 Cypress Grove Lane. "I was never attached to this place", said Nick, "It was comfortable, okay, but I would never call this place home…" Judy had to hurry as Kitty wanted to drop off her mom at Nick's place, so she gave Nick a quick kiss and sneaked out of the employees entrance in her borrowed nurse outfit.

She hurried back, picked up Bonnie who was amazed seeing her daughter in a nurse outfit ("You already got a new job?"), drove to Bren, gave her back the borrowed clothes, then back to Nick's to help Bonnie packing her stuff. Bonnie had decided to go back to Bunny Burrows as Judy needed to start work again this evening. She took a photo of Judy in her uniform. "You really look awesome in that, I must admit. What will you do with Nick when he is out of hospital on Monday?", she asked. Judy shrugged, "Dunno. Maybe Bogo will give me some days off so I could help him get back in shape…" – "Why don't you two come to Bunny Burrows?", Bonnie asked. "Oh… mom, I don't know… we…" – "Nonsense, the fresh air will help him get back into shape in no time. And dad will be delighted to meet his future son-in-law!" – "Are you sure about that?" Judy still thought of the fox taser and other things her dad had said, but Bonnie assured her, that Stu had have a change of the mind regarding foxes. "Mom, I cannot decide for Nick, but I promise I will talk with him about it as soon as possible, okay?"

They arrived at the station in time and kissed good bye, then Judy had to drive directly to the ZPD to be right on time for her first briefing after her suspension. She was no longer the shy bunny cop, the outsider among all the big animals, when she entered the bull pen she received a heartily welcome, a lot of pats on her shoulder and many congratulations for her planned wedding with Nick. Her usual chair had been replaced with a new higher one with steps so she could see better. Judy suspected this was an ordinary kiddy chair from a restaurant that had been modified, but she appreciated the gesture nontheless. She noticed more changes in the bull pen, it had been painted in bright, friendly colors, a beamer hummed in the back of the room projecting a ZPD logo on a whiteboard behind Bogo's place. A huge table with magnetic markers had been installed on the right wall, all teams had been meticulously noted there with exact remarks who worked on which case. She also noted that it was much quieter, all officers sitting down neatly, there was a kind of positive tension in the room and the focus was clearly towards the door to the right. Just when Judy wanted to ask Wolfowitz next to her, the door opened and immediately all officers sprang to their feet as one, paws neatly pressed to the thighs, heads turned to the door. Judy hurried to follow the rest. After a second of tension, two extremely long, beautiful tabby legs appeared in the door, followed by the rest of Kitty. She looked awesome wearing a blue short arm uniform blouse, at least two numbers too small, accentuating her curvy body in a perfect way that left the spectator's fantasy no room. The two top buttons were open, so she showed quite some cleavage. All buttons, badges and the two golden chords hanging from her shoulder pads were gleaming in the light. The skirt was extremely short, Kitty walked slowly to the front desk, her hips swaying from left to right. _No I know why they call it catwalk!_ thought Judy when she realized she had her mouth open.

Kitty stood in front of the troop. It was so silent as if the room was empty. She had placed a manila folder in front of her and looked up, her huge lapislazuli eyes gazing around. "Good evening, officers", she purred softly, "Good evening, ma'am!" everyone shouted back. "Chief Bogo will not appear in this briefing as he is still in conference with the city council. Therefore it is my pleasure to welcome back at least one half of ZPD's best team, officer Judy Hopps, returning after her unfair suspension has finally been revoked!" Everyone started to yell and beat their paws on the table, Tony Thiruvananthapurram, the handsome cop tiger who had, at least at Nick's opinion, a huge crush on Judy, roared "Three cheers for Judy, hip-hip-" – "Hooray!" – "Hip-hip-" – "Hooray!" – "Hip-hip-" – "Hooray!" The noise seemed to be too big for the room, until the fragile cat lifted her tiny paw and immediately the complete silence returned. Kitty made a slight gesture towards Judy, allowing her to speak. "Erm… thanks guys, I really appreciate your welcome. I have missed you, really. Oh, and Nick asked me to send best wishes to all of you, he will be released on Monday and hopes to return to duty two weeks after that… so, thanks again!" After another round of applause, Kitty started the daily briefing by quickly and professionally clicking through a presentation projected right behind her. She assigned teams and gave out orders as if she had never done anything else. The other cops took orders from her, she handed out material on the assigned cases and received a respectful "Yes, ma'am!" After everyone had received his orders, Judy was alone with her in the bull pen. Kitty asked her to follow in Bogo's office. Kitty had got a smaller desk right next to Bogo's massive one, the room looked brighter, two huge TV sets had been added to the wall, one was automatically zapping through various news channels, the other showed incoming messages in text form. "Wow!", Judy exclaimed, "You really did a lot in these few days!" – "Yes, most of it was Bogo's idea, he just never had time to apply them! And now, when he finally has me to care for the daily routine, they made him interim minister!" – "And you have the gang under control, I am amazed they all follow your lead so… so…" Kitty gave Judy a broad grin, "Yes, but this is mainly thanks to Bogo. On my first day, I walked in together with him and some of the boys… you know, they wolf-whistled and stuff, so Bogo told them, that I will forward his commands from now on and that they should treat me like they treat him or otherwise… you get the picture. At first they were a bit reluctant about my re-organizations of notice boards and stuff, but I think they like the new concept – you can see on one glance who is working on what and when he or she's in the office or out in the field…" – "Yeah, I saw this, it's really great! I am so happy that you like your new job!" Kitty stood up and embraced Judy, "I never would have made it without you! I never would have had the courage…" – "Oh, Kitty, stop it, I did nothing! It was all in yourself from the start!" Both giggled when they wiped the tears from their faces. "Okay", Kitty siad, "back to business. About your assignment…" – "Please, could I stay in the office tonight? I have some things to research…" Kitty looked up curiously, "Is it that collar thing you mentioned earlier?" – "Tame collars, yes, I want to know more about it. And… I know that's bad timing, being back for just some minutes, but… I need two weeks of vacation, you know… my parents, they have invited Nick and me…" but Kitty already typed on her laptop, pressed a final key and said "Approved! Do whatever you like, Bogo gave me free hand when it comes to you!" – "Oh, Kitty, thank you so much, I…" – "Nonsense, now get out, start working, I have no time to chat, when Bogo is not here I feel like a one-legged mule in an ass-kicking contest!" – "Yes, ma'am!" Judy shouted with a broad smile and marched out of the chief's office.

Back in her own small office she shared with Nick, she collected material from various sources on the internet, but most of it was bullshit from crazy conspiracy theorists. Honey Badger's material had been the best she found until now. It was well past midnight when her phone rang and made her jump out of her screen induced stupor. It was Kitty. "The boss is in office now and wants to see you – now!" She hung up before Judy could answer. She hopped out of her chair and hurried down into Bogo's office. Kitty was not present but Bogo sat on his chair rubbing his eyes with one hoof. "Officer Hopps, nice to have you back. Sit down, please." He looked at her and Judy noted how tired the mighty water buffalo looked. Bogo read from her face, "I know, I know, too less sleep. These nutcases in the city council drive me up the wall – but that's my problem, not yours. We still receive quite a lot of press inquiries regarding you and Nick, so I think, the two week vacation you applied for is in order. Make sure, Wilde's back on his paws when he returns." – "Thank you, sir. And thank you for lifting the suspension…" – "Ahhh, you know that stupid suspension was for political reasons only. The situation in the city council has changed now. Lionhearts faction has now the majority as long as I vote for his side. He knows perfectly well that I will just do what is best for police work, so I think he will replace me asap with someone from his own gang. Kitty… I mean, officer MacMahon is doing great but I can't burden everything on her small shoulders after just two days. She told me you are working on a conspiracy theory now? How come?" In quick words, Judy summed up what she had learned until now. It was not much. "Why do you think this is a police affair?", Bogo asked. "Well, sir, if someone really plans to put these collars on Zootopia citizens, this would be a clear violation not only of constitutional rights, but of everything we believe in here. Therefore, if these collars exist and are stored somewhere in Zootopia we must find them and destroy them. That's my opinion, sir." Bogo nodded slowly. "It's not that you are the first cop to look after this story. We even had a task force two years ago, but they couldn't find out more than the story spreaded on the internet by this mysterious H. Badger. They couldn't even find this guy." Judy tried to look neutral. She would have liked to say _Oh, yeah? I found that person in a matter of hours!_ But she decided, for the time being she would keep Honey's identity a secret. Suddenly, Bogo took a red manila folder out of one of his drawers. It was marked "TOP SECRET". He handed it over to her. "When someone finds out more about this, then you and Nick. Here is everything the task force found out. Some material was sent to us from an anonymous source, this person must have been an insider in the tame collar project. Maybe this a point to start. And now excuse me, I'll go home now, I have the next meeting with the mayor at 7 am."

Judy walked back in her office, the heavy folder was hard to carry for her. When she sat down she checked her phone: 2.14 am. She yawned and started to flip through the file. The task force named TORQUIS had obviously been quite huge and their work had been well organized and documented. Bogo had mentioned an anonymous source, so Judy's nose started twitching when she read in a daily journal:

 _Today we received another email from E. It contained some technical details about the tame collars. We showed them to an engineer and he said that everything makes perfect sense. Came to the conclusion, that this E. is really knowing about the conspiracy. We decided to give all eight emails we have received from him until now to Profiling. Maybe they can give us more clues regarding his identity._

Next to this entry, someone had written with a red pen: "Profile received, see section 'Reports', page 56ff." Judy looked for the mentioned page and started to read:

 _This profile was written by Dr. J. Manson Porcupine, ZPD (advisor, psychiatrist) on a subject using the alias of "El Ahrairah" and is based on eight emails of 26 pages w. 18,768 words altogether. TOP SECRET! To be used within task force TORQUIS only! When given outside TORQUIS, replace alias with "E." and blacken all passages in brackets []._

A passage of stupendous analysis followed that made Judy's eyes itching. She flipped through the 16 page long essay until she found the final paragraph:

 _ **Conclusion:**_ _The subject [and author of the beforementioned emails] is most probably male and predatory. The alias ["El Ahrairah"] is possibly arabic, [linguistic department did not come to a final conclusion, the name could mean "_ الاعضاء" _which translates to "member".] The subject may [have chosen this name to make clear that he is] an insider, a member, someone who knows. As the language is mainly spoken in Sahara Square and Savannah District the possibility is high that the subject grew up there. He is of middle age (45 to 55) and very high educated. His style shows confidence. He may not be born in a rich family but is now relatively wealthy, maybe this wealth is hidden to the outside world. He is very intelligent and has probably a degree [in engineering or natural science or both]. He is extremely careful not to be identified. Regarding some expressions used [in the mails], it can be assumed that he is rather canine, his species may be wolf, coyote, desert fox, badger, prairie dog or dingo or anything along this line. Socially, he will live a normal life, probably married, but with few other social contacts or friends._

It was 4.46 am. Judy yawned again and again when she put the file down. El Ahrairah… somehow the name tingles her mind. Has she heard that name before? She was not sure. The profile mentioned a badger, but Honey didn't fit in the entire rest. Has she mentioned the name to her? No, Judy thought, it had been long ago…

Two hours later she was fast asleep in Nick's bed. She dreamt she was in grade school again, sitting next to her sister Fay who said "You may be a good cop, but you should be a good bunny, too… then you would know what you want to know… you'll forget to ask your sister, so ask the other one instead…" Her high pitched laughter faded away as Judy sank into deep sleep.


	23. Chapter 23 - Meet the Parents

**Chapter 23 – Meet the Parents**

Judy woke up at noon with the strange feeling that she had overlooked something. Fractal memories from her dreams kept thinking her of long past days in school, she couldn't figure out why. After a long breakfast however, even the last bits and pieces of her dreams were forgotten. She was on vacation! Singing and dancing she cleaned up Nick's apartment and started to pack for both of them. Then she drove over to the hospital. She was in a great mood, nothing could bother her today so she took the main entrance and marched directly to the waiting entourage of reporters who all hurried to set up their camera equipment. After she had answered some easy questions about Nick's state and the shoot out with the car thieves one reporter asked her "Do you feel any remorse that you killed that panther?" Judy remembered Nick's lesson regarding reporter questions he gave her before her very first press conference after the Savage case, "Did I need to shoot him? Yes. Otherwise Nick would be dead now and most probably me, too. I didn't like it, but I don't feel sorry." – "When will you and Mr. Wilde marry?" Judy grinned, "We haven't planned anything yet. First priority is Nick's health now." – "Miss Hopps, what would you answer to those animals who say that marriage between two different species is against nature?" Judy waited some seconds until everyone stared at her expectingly. Then she raised her head high and looked directly into the camera. "I would tell them, that I fully agree with them. It _is_ against nature. When our ancestors, those who hunted and killed each other, would look at us, at the way we live today, they would say, _everything_ we do is against nature. Living in cities, wearing clothes, driving cars, using phones – against nature. Even the idea of matrimony itself is against nature, that's what our ancestors would say. So, Nick and I, Gazelle and Rick and all the other couples who live together openly or in hiding, we just went a step further. If you ask me, no big deal. Thank you." She smiled and turned away, ignoring the questions fired by the reporters. When she entered Nick's room, she saw her own face on the TV screen. "My, my…", Nick said, "the student outperformed the master…" Judy stared at the screen, "Oh my god, they have aired that live? Is nothing else happening in this city?" Nick grinned, "Obviously not. Geez, was that good! Was that spontaneous?" – "Yeah, of course." She went over to Nick's bed and kissed him. He grabbed her and pulled her in bed until she laid next to him. "You seem to be fit enough for your release tomorrow!", Judy laughed. "Yes, I would definitely agree on this!" a dark voice said from the door. Judy hurried out of the bed and stood in front of Dr. Ironbeard who looked over his half moon spectacles. "I am sorry", she said but the wolverine just grinned. "I must say, it is time this patient gets released. Even though, I have learned a lot about a fox's healing powers. But there are some things I need to talk about with you, Miss Hopps. Would you excuse us, Mr Wilde? You will get your future wife back in no time, I promise." – "Sure!", Nick said grinning, he seemed not to be embarrassed by the situation at the slightest.

As soon as the two of them were alone in his office, the vet got serious. "His wounds have healed well, but he still is quite weak. I'll rely on you to get him back in shape. Brunhild, his physiotherapist, has asked me to give you some advice…" He shuffled in the mess on his desk untile he found a stapled set of sheets. "And another thing… he is suffering from serious nightmares. We suppressed them with sleeping pills, but I have reduced the dosis day by day, I don't want to get him addicted to this stuff, so please convince him to not buy pills on his own. He needs healthy sleep. Make him talk about the nightmares, maybe this helps. If he is not over this within two weeks you should consult a psychiatrist." Judy nodded, then she talked about the plan to spend the two weeks on the countryside. Ironbeard agreed that this would be a good idea. "Maybe the change of scenery produces new memories suppressing his nightmares. But, I must say, I have a good feeling about him. He is a tough little fellow, he will make it for sure." They chatted a little about this and that when Judy suddenly said, "Doctor, do you know a person called El Ahrairah? Maybe connected to the things you told me about tame collars?" She looked in his face, but saw no traces of shock or surprise. "Hmmm, is this a patient of mine? No, I don't think I have ever heard that name before." Judy was convinced he was telling the truth. "I shouldn't have told you about this old story… I was just starting at university when I assisted a vet who was specialized in behavioural changes produced by electro-stimulation. Weird stuff…" – "Do you remember the name of that doctor?" The wolverine shook his head, "We called him Felix, but that was an alias, he said so himself." – "Was he a predator, maybe a canine?" – "No, he was a pig. He vanished, some said he died and I never heard anything about this whole story again. Miss Hopps, please understand, this happened a long time ago, and my memories a scarce – mainly because I want to forget about this. I hope, your fiancee will recover quickly, I wish you all the best…" He stood up and Judy understood that this was the end of the interview.

Back in Nick's room she could finally tell him that they would spend the next two weeks in Bunny Burrows. Nick was a bit anxious about Judy's father. "But I really like your mom, it's nice from her to invite me, considering she barely knows me. And I love to meet the entire rest of your family, especially your sister Fay!" Judy shook her head, "I don't think that you'll see her, she is very shy and very afraid of other animals, especially of foxes. Mom will have a hard time explaining her that she will be under one roof with a fox for some time…"

Preparation for the trip took the rest of the day, every now and then Nick called to add things he wanted to take with him. Judy had been very surprised when Ironbeard came in again and informed them, that the hospital had decided to release Nick one day earlier, on Sunday, as the release date of Monday had already been published in the media. With that trick they hoped to avoid a press rallye in front of the hospital. In addition, they wanted Judy to pick Nick up at 7 am in the morning as the reporters usually arrived well after that time. So, she had to get train tickets, inform their parents, and so on. She was totally exhausted when she went to bed at 9 pm and set her alarm clock to 5 am.

Kitty had been so nice to have organized an unmarked car and came in person to help Judy with the bulky luggage. They drove to the back entrance of the hospital where they arrived at 6.45. As soon as the car had stopped, Nick was brought out in a wheel chair by Bren. He took a deep breath of fresh air, his first one after 15 days in hospital. Judy started to cry and Nick said his usual, "You bunnies – so emotional!" When he wanted to get out of the chair, Bren stopped him and when he asked why, she said "Because you are too tall if you stand!" and kissed him right on his muzzle. When the bunny nurse finally released him, Nick could hardly get air before Kitty said, "My turn!" and did the same. When she was finished, Judy swore that Nick had gotten even redder then usual and for the first time words failed him. The four friends laughed and Judy rubbed her nose against Bren's saying "Thank you so much for everything!" After they made sure, everyone got everyone's cell phone number, Nick got out of the wheelchair and walked a bit wobbly to the car. They had to hurry to reach their train and Judy noted that the quick walk had drenched Nick in sweat. He really was in bad shape. She had reserved a full compartment, so they were all alone. She wasn't surprised when Nick fell asleep before they even reached the Rainforest District. She opened her rucksack where she had a copy of the tame collar file, but changed her mind and put it back unopened.

She woke up when Nick touched her shoulder whispering "Hey, Carrots!" in her ear. She yawned and stretched, "Are we there yet?" – "Yes, they just announced Bunny Burrows", he said. Nick laughed when he saw the sign with the ever-klicking population counter and Judy explained that it was just programmed with the annual birth rate. It was still well before noon when the train stopped at Bunny Burrows station, that, according to Nick, looked like something built by Hayao Miyazaki. A friendly rhino cunductor helped Judy carrying out the two large suitcases, so she could help Nick. "It's okay, it's okay, I am not a helpless old granny!", he laughed. Judy let him go and started running to her parents. "Mom, dad!" Nick smiled and lifted the suitcases. After his long stay in hospital they felt like 200 pounds to him, but he managed to carry them over to the three hugging bunnies anyway. "Nick, oh my god, wait, we'll help you!", said Bonnie when she saw that. She ran over to him and gave him a short, careful hug. "Are you feeling better? Do you have any pain? Can you walk? Should we get a cart for the suitcases?" – "Yes, no, yes, yes", he answered, "Nice to see you again, Bonnie! My father sends his best regards!" Bonnie smiled, "Oh, thank you, Nick, I really like your father, he is so funny! Meet my husband, Stu. Stu, this is Nick!" The situation was a bit awkward, Nick stretched out his paw and Judy was glad that her dad shook it without hesitation. "Mr Hopps, I am glad to meet you in person. I am so sorry for the confusion I caused with that phone call, these things should…" – "No, no, no, it was not your fault!" interrupted Stu, "The circumstances, the circumstances…", he gave an insecure laugh, "Okay, Mr Wilde, we'll drive you to our farm…" – "Stu!", interrupted Bonnie, "what's this nonsense, Mr Hopps, Mr Wilde? He is your future son-in-law, for crying out loud, he's Nick and that is Stu, okay?" – "Wait a sec, I can't remember giving my blessings…" – "Stuart Hopps, don't make a scene!" – "Wait, wait!" interjected Nick, "Bonnie, he is completely right about that!" – "So, is he?", Bonnie frowned, "Am I?", said Stu, a bit surprised. "Yes, of course. Mr…. I mean Stu, you don't know me yet and you are responsible for your daughter, so it would be careless to give your blessings to a wedding with a complete stranger. It was very generous of you to have invited me into your home on such short notice. I daresay we'll spend quite some time together and I am looking forward to see your amazing farm – Judy talks about this all the time." He hit the jackpot with that statement, Stu smiled and immediately talked about farming while Nick listened to him with full concentration and eyes wide open. _He really knows how to handle animals!_ Judy thought smiling. They hauled the suitcases from the luggage cart on the pick-up truck and while Stu brought the cart back, Bonnie sighed, "I am sorry, Nick, but this truck was made for bunnies… you will have to sit in the back…" – "Oh, no problem, the air smells so wonderful here… it's cool to sit in the open. I have never been outside the big city!"

The farm house seemed small on first sight, but Judy told Nick that most of the rooms were underground, the so-called burrow. Here, most of the kids of the Hopps familiy lived. The basement has an enormous kitchen, two small offices and a cozy living room. Next to the kitchen was a big store room for food, cooled down to 40 degrees. "You need a lot of food for nearly 300 bunnies!", Bonnie said proudly. "The upper floor has our bedroom, four large rooms to store clothes and other stuff and the two small rooms for Judy and Fay. And the bathrooms, of course. You're so lucky that Judy wanted this large bed she saw on a garage sale when she was ten, it is big enough for you two lovebirds!" – "Moooom!", Judy said embarassed, "We'll bring the luggage up, okay?" They walked up the stairs. To the right there were two doors, the first one had a hand made sign on it "DO NOT ENTER!" Judy opened the second door. Her room looked cozy, a small desk, a chair and a really huge bed, big enough for a full grown tiger, with a pink blanket on it and hundreds of stuffed toy animals. "Why do you…", Nick started, but Judy put her finger on her lips and signalled him to speak low. "My sister… she's next room, I told you that strangers upset her!", she whispered. "Why do you have such a big bed?" Nick asked at the same volume. "Oh, I always liked big beds. When I lived down in the burrow, I had so small a space, that it was really luxurious to have a room on my own. I like to roll around in bed…" – "Yes, I like to roll you around in bed, too…" – "Shht, Nick!" They kissed, but flinched when Bonnie called "LUNCH!" from below. Giggling like kids they ran back down in the kitchen that was crammed with bunnies. When Judy and Nick entered, Judy was frantically greeted by a cloud of bunnies storming at her, nearly crushing her to death. Nick received a lot of curious looks from the some twenty female bunnies of all ages between ten and eighteen. Bonnie had prepared large pots full of food and was heaving them on some trolleys like in an aircraft. The group of girls was about to take them down in the burrow where the young bunnies used to eat. They were whispering, "Look at him!", "He's so tall!", "Look at his tail!", "I bet his ears are fluffy!" Bonnie clapped her paws, "Girls, Nick is our guest! Behave! Don't whisper, he's a fox, he hears every tiny sound you make! Now, march down, your brothers and sisters wanted to have the food when it's still hot!" The girls rushed to follow their mom's order and marched single file with the food trolleys like a group of flight attendents. When they passed them, Judy introduced, "Chrissie, Danny, Denise, Charlotte, Cora, Jenny, Syndra, Xenia, Bella, she's really crazy…" – "I'm not!" – "… Romy, Heather, Violet, Natasha…" When all the girls had left the kitchen, Nick sighed, "I think I spaced out after Jenny… do you never mix them up?", he asked Bonnie. "Oh, sometimes… but now, sit down, I have no pred food, I am sorry, but Judy told me you love our blueberries, so I've made blueberry pancakes and fresh lettuce, some homemade beans and corn on the cob, carrots, of course and self-made lemonade. Stu! Stu, we want to eat NOW!" – "Yeah, yeah, coming…"

The food was delicious. Nick praised Bonnie's cooking and complimented Stu on the quality of his vegetables. "This tastes all so much better than the stuff you can buy in Zootopia!" – "Ahh, this greenhouse crap! Growing veggies is an art, Nick, an art! The manure, the amount of water you use, the seeds, how deep you plough the fields… real good veggies need to be composed!" Stu told him proudly, "If you really like what you do, you'll get good at it automatically, true?" – "Yes, you are right!" – "So, Nick, what did you do before Judy convinced you to become a cop?" Nick wiped his snout with a napkin to remove blueberry juice. "I was a businessman. My business was to convince animals to buy stuff they don't need. I am not proud of it. Your daughter showed me that anyone could…", he stopped as both Stu and Bonnie stared at him open mouthed. He wanted to tell them the full truth about his former life and Judy had told him, that they already knew he had been a con artist, so he didn't understand why they looked so shocked. Just when he wanted to ask them, he noticed they were not staring at him but past him. He turned around. Behind him in the kitchen door stood what looked like a figure from a horror movie.

The fur of the bunny girl in the door was so white she seemed to be transparent like a ghost. She was smaller than Judy and much thinner, nearly skinny. She wore a bright white pair of tight leggins making her thin legs look even thinner and a white summer dress. Her small face was really beautiful but her white eyeballs without pupils were creepy. Nick was glad, that Judy has told him about her sister Fay being blind, otherwise he may have freaked out. "Fay!", Bonnie said surprised, "I told you yesterday that we would have a visitor…" – "Yes, you did…", her voice was a bit eerie, very high pitched and she spoke slowly and so softly you could barely hear her at all, "… his smell has already spread in the entire house… telling me there is a fox in the burrow… so strong, so spicy, so alarming…" Nick gulped, "I am sorry, that…", but Fay interrupted him with a hissed "Shhh… at first I was afraid… I haven't smelled a fox in years… but then I remembered, oh yes, I did…" With four quick hops she moved forward stopping right behind Judy's chair, giving Judy a quick nose rub. "Fay, I am so glad to see you again, I…" but Fay said "Shhhh!" again. Fay didn't turn her head towards Nick when she addressed him, "You, Nick, the fox, tall and handsome but wounded so badly… I used to know you so well… do you remember?" – "Erm… I am sorry, I am pretty sure we never met before…" Fay let out a soft giggle, "Oh, yes, we have, you're voice hasn't changed at all… I never forget a voice…" Stu cleared his throat, "Munchkin, I am sure we never had him here on the farm before, it's his first time in Bunny Burrows, and you have never left…" Another "Shhh…" silenced him. For the first time she turned her head and seemed to look directly in Nick's eyes, but her eyes were empty and so eerie that Nick needed to look past her, he shrugged and looked at Judy, but she just shrugged, too, not knowing what to say. Fay inhaled deeply, her nose twitching. "Yes… I met you when I was with Her… you may have forgotten me but you still remember Her, don't you?" – "Who do you mean?" – "You were with Her while you were dead… I was with Her when I was dead…" Nick shook his head, "Sorry, I'm getting goose bumps now… I really have no idea what you are talking about…" Suddenly, Fay burst into a laughter, a nice, warm laughter, "Oh, no problem, you will remember, I am sure." Her eerie sing-sang voice had suddenly vanished, now she sounded like a teenage girl talking to friends at school, "Oh, by the way, may I touch your face? I'm blind, you know. I still know your face, but I want to find out if it had changed over the years… may I?" – "Erm… of course…" Fay jumped high in the air, landing on Nick's lap, her big feet standing on his thighs, light as a feather in the summer wind. Her paws reached out and smiling she ran her paws across Nick's face. "Yes… yes… your fur is so much harder than bunny fur… but Xenia was right, your ears _are_ fluffy, tee-hee…" Nick hold perfectly still during the strangest experience he ever had in his life. Her face was now closed to his, he could smell her, her smell was nearly as pleasant as Judy's. Her paws were softer than cotton candy. All of a sudden, she grabbed his cheeks hard and pressed them with tremendous power so he snout opened slightly. Her head moved forward and she kissed him with full power. Before anyone could react, she had jumped from Nick's lap, landed on the floor with an elegant somersault, hopped quickly through the open door and vanished, laughing loudly and thumping up the stairs. "FAY!", Bonnie yelled and ran after her but when she reached the door they heard Fay's door upstairs slam.

"Fayora Lanthana Hopps, come down NOW and apologize!", Bonnie yelled up the stairs, then turned to the shell-shocked fox, "Nick, I can't say how sorry I am, she never did something like that before, I can't explain what has gotten into her…" Nick wiped his lips, "You are right, Judy, she is really VERY shy, good thing she is, otherwise she may have ripped off my clothes and raped me on the spot…" – "Nick, I swear, I had no idea… I didn't understand a word she said, but I told you, she sometimes is strange and says strange things…" Stu still sat motionless on his chair, fork in hand, eyes and mouth wide open, while his wife was still shouting, "FAY! COME – DOWN – NOW!" – "Please, Bonnie, let her be, maybe it was just a bit too exciting for her…" Stu nodded, "Yes, you know her, she'll calm down…" Fay's voice came down from upstairs, singing at the top of her lungs, " _I kissed a fox and I lai-iked it, hope my sis-ter don't mind it…_ ", followed by her roaring laughter, "… or maybe she won't", Judy said – and suddenly started laughing, too. Nick, Stu and even Bonnie fell in. "Well, look on the up side…", Nick said, "… it's just noon and I already have been kissed by four different girls today… must be my lucky day!"


	24. Chapter 24 - Hauntings

**Chapter 24 - Hauntings**

After the eventful lunch, Judy showed Nick around. The fox was fascinated with the skillful and clever combination of the farm house above ground and the cozy burrows underground where hundreds of little bunnies ran from one chamber to another, gawking curiously at him. Then, she showed him around the huge garden. After that, Nick retreated in Judy's room to take a nap as he was still quite tired from the journey. Judy had told him that she wanted to start his training program the next morning. While Nick was sleeping, she used the time to greet her brothers and sisters and answered their endless questions about Nick, police work, Nick, living in Zootopia and, of course, Nick. Having a fox, a natural enemy in the house was a sensation for the little ones.

At dinner, Bonnie told Judy and Nick that they planned a huge barbecue welcome party for tomorrow night. Nick seemed delighted, but Judy noticed that he seemed a bit down and lost in thoughts. Even though he had taken a two hour nap he yawned a lot and so Judy said that she was tired and would go to bed early this evening. As expected, Nick said immediately that he would join her, so they bid Bonnie and Stu a good night and went to bed. "Our first night together since…", Judy said, "… the shooting, yes", Nick replied and kissed her shoulders. Both were in underwear as it was still pretty hot. "Carrots, I am sorry, but I don't think…" – "Hey, Nick, okay, okay. You are still recovering, take it slowly, one step at a time!" She looked down his back at the still gruesome wound where his fur had been shaven off and large red zig-zagging scars were seen. Quickly she turned off the lights and they enbraced. Nick listened to Judy's soft breathing until he knew she had fallen asleep. He was afraid of sleeping even though he was so tired. But every time he fell asleep the same nightmares were haunting him, so he forced himself to stay awake. When he noticed he couldn't do this anymore he freed himself carefully from Judy's arms and got up. He rubbed his tired face and checked the alarm clock. It was past 2 am in the morning and he still hadn't slept for a minute.

Carefully not to wake anyone in the quiet house he sneaked down and took a soda out of the fridge. He walked out on the porch. The air was still warm but the blazing heat of the day had vanished. He sat on the bench and watched the stars for some minutes when a pair of paws went over his eyes. "Who am I?", said a familiar voice. "Hey, Carrots, I'm sorry, but I couldn't sleep… sat down next to me." The paws vanished and he felt the warm body of the bunny squeezing next to him. "I just thought, that…", he turned towards her and startled. The bunny dressed in a white silk pyjama was not Judy but her sister Fay. "Wow! I really thought you… man, you can imitate Judy's voice pretty well!" – "Nick Wilde, how dare you to leave your post in the middle of the night without permission?", she said in Judy's voice and Nick stared at her speechless, as she was doing it perfectly. Fay laughed and continued in her own voice, "Are you still mad at me?", she asked. "Me? Why should I?" – "I stealed a kiss…", she whispered shyly, "I don't know why I did that. I had been afraid of you because you are a fox… maybe I wanted to proof that I could overcome that fear… I apologize if I went a bit too far." – "No, no problem. It was a surprise, sure… but I was more afraid of the strange things you said before." She sighed, "I know. Everyone is. I don't want to scare anyone, but I just say what I feel. And I feel a lot of things since I lost my eyes. The others think I am crazy, but since I am always right, they fear me. Except Judy, of course. My sister fears nothing. Not even getting married to a fox, it seems!" For some time they sat in silence until Nick said, "The things you said… I didn't understand a thing. Why are you so sure we met before? And where?" – "Why are you sitting here?", Fay asked, "Why are you not asleep when you are so tired?" Nick thought for a while, unsure if he should tell her such a thing, but otherwise, she seem to know everything already, "I am afraid of my nightmares. They come back every time I fall asleep. In the hospital they gave me medication, then I could sleep, but they won't give me that anymore." – "Tell me about that nightmare, please", she asked softly. "Well, it is basically what happened that night when I got shot… I run over the street… this part changes sometimes, but it always ends with me dying, then I see something… I am so afraid… I want to run away… and that is the time I wake up." Again, they sat quietly for a while, then Fay said, "It doesn't sound so bad…" – "But it is, believe me, I am so afraid, I can't tell… I have never been so afraid in my whole life, I am soaked in cold sweat when I wake up…" – "You died", she said and Nick noted her voice had changed. It was much darker now and she talked slower, like when she said the strange things during lunch yesterday. "You were dead. They were operating you and you died. Like I died when they tried to heal me back then in the hospital… and so we met." – "But… Judy told me, that happened nearly twenty years ago and I…" – "Time doesn't matter…", she interrupted him, "Where we met, there is no time, yesterday, thousand years ago, it doesn't matter. When you are with Her, nothing like this matters at all. And we two, we were with Her."

Nick started to shiver. His fur stood up and he was nearly as afraid as during his nightmares. That eerie voice, that strange white bunny sitting so close to him, holding his arm in an iron hard grip he wasn't able to escape. Her strange white eyes were wide open and stared in the nothingness beyond everything. The unusual way she pronounced the word "Her" made him sure she was not referring to a normal person. "Who is She?", he asked, but Fay shook her beautiful small head, "Irrelevant. She is all, She is nothing… Who cares? When I died, She welcomed me, She told me things… when you died, She welcomed you, She told you things… we met there. You must remember. Remember what She told you!" – "But… when you have been there, too, you must know what She told me!", Nick said. Fay's head swayed softly from right to left, "Ohhh, yes, I know… but I can't tell you, that would be not the same… you must remember yourself. Go, meet Her again… jeez, why is it so cold, all of a sudden?" Fay's voice had suddenly changed back to her normal sweet young girl's voice. She pressed her face in Nick's breast fur, "You are so warm…" – "I should go now!", he said abruptly, stood up and went inside without looking back. He went back to bed, listened to Judy's slow breath and spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep while the words of the strange white bunny raced through his mind.

At 7 am Judy and Nick stood in front of the farm house doing warm-up exercises. Nick hadn't told Judy about his chat with Fay nor that he hadn't slept a minute, he tried to be cheerful. Judy wore short gym tights and a blue tank top with ZPD logo and looked hotter than the air temperature already was this early. Nick wished he had put on something cooler than his long sleeve jogging suit but he was a bit embarrassed about his shaved patches on his back and his thigh. "Okay, we'll start easy. You see the tree up there on the hill? We'll jog at easy pace over to it. Come on!" They started and Nick was in sweat after two minutes, panting hard. He had problems following her even though her legs were much shorter than his and she wasn't even running. He was in a much worse shape than he had already feared, but he clenched his teeth and ran behind her. They reached the hill and even though it was a light slope, for Nick it felt like the Mt Everest. He got side stitch and his wound started to cause pain, too. Judy, on the other hand, jogged easily upward and had already reched the tree. When she turned around and saw Nick her face was full of sorrow. He was far behind her, panting so loud she could hear him from her position. When he finally reached the top of the hill, he fell on his knees and vomited. "Oh my god, Nick! Come here, quick, get in the shadow! Oh, I am so sorry, Nick, I didn't thought that would happen on such a short distance…" He laid down in the shadow of the tree, his head in her lap. After five minutes, he felt better. "Oh man, I really need some training… today in two weeks I'll have to go back to work…" – "Don't care about this, now. Easy… one step after the other. It was my fault, I should have taken it easier at the beginning. Let's walk back, okay?"

For the rest of the morning, Nick was allowed to rest on the Hopps's porch with a lot of pampering from Bonnie. After lunch, Judy ordered him to bed where he finally was able to sleep for nearly five hours without any dreams. When he woke up he felt much better and refreshed even though his thigh muscles were still sore from the training in the morning. Stu and Bonnie had turned the huge farm backyard in a barbecue and party zone, that started to fill with guests. Nick has changed into a white shirt with a dark blue tie and a pair of slack blue rapper's pants. "Wow, you look sharp!", Judy smiled, "We should sneak away and start a private party somewhere else…" When they kissed, a group of little bunnies started cheering. "I think it's so romantic!" one of Judy's sisters said, "Well, I think I'm gonna puke!", answered a young buck and Bonnie yelled, "Behave, kids, behave, Nick is our guest, don't forget! And you two should behave, too!" she hissed in Judy's and Nick's direction. Stu yelled, "Hey, Nick, come over and help me with the fire, will you?" The fur at Stu's paws was already singed but the fire was still not going. Nick started to work and five minutes later there was a huge fire going. "Wow, amazing! Where have you learned that?" – "Oh, I wanted to become a boy scout when I was young…", Nick said and Judy saw a shadow pass over his face. "Hey, Nick, I have a surprise for you: one of our guests will bring some pred food, so you don't have to nibble on roasted carrots and my famous flambeed zucchini all night!", Stu said proudly.

Half an hour later the place was packed with animals, mostly bunnies, but also some sheep, racoons, goats and a handful of smaller predators were present and Nick was introduced to so many mammals, he lost count rather quickly. Everyone was quite friendly and Nick enjoyed himself a lot, talking to Stu's friends about farming or playing with Judy's younger siblings. Her young brothers always wanted to play 'pred and prey', so he ran after them growling while they shrieked and ran away in all directions. Later, a group of teenage sisters besieged him, asking about him and Judy, some of them were pretty flirty, so Judy shooed them away and Bonnie apologized, "Really, these girls… if I got a dollar for each time I hear 'I wana have a fox boyfriend, too', we would be rich by now! Hey, Stu, should we start eating? The kids are really getting hungry…" – "Yeah, we just wait for another guest… oh, speaking of the devil, there he is!" Nick turned his head and saw to his surprise a pair of foxes coming his way. "Gideon?", Judy asked, "Gideon Grey, I'll be darned! What a nice surprise!" Gideon gave his usual sheepish smile and put his arm around the beautiful vixen next to him, "I think, you remember Francine?" – "Of course I do! You are the nurse from the hospital!" Francine smiled, "Not any more. I have quit my job there… looks like I am working in a bakery now!" She gave Gideon a hot look that could have set fire to Stu's coals in no time. Gideon seemed a bit embarrassed when he turned to Nick, "Hey, we've never been introduced properly, I am Gideon…", he stretched out his paw to Nick, but Nick ignored it, grabbed Gideon's shoulders instead and squeezed him in a tight hug. "You have saved my life, buddy. I will never forget that. They told me you insisted on donating more blood even after the docs said no…", Nick said and Gideon looked surprised but happy while Francine swept a tear from her face. "That's my Gideon!", she said, "So humble and so brave!" Gideon opened a large bag, "Hey, I brought some nice marinated bug steaks for us carnivores here…" – "Oh, man, that's the second time you saved my life! I love blueberries and stuff but it has been a while I had some bugs squished between my teeth!", Nick laughed when he saw Judy's disgusted face.

Everyone ate until they were stuffed. The sun set and Stu lighted some hundred torches. Judy was fascinated how much Gideon Grey had changed. Now, that he finally found love, he was much more confident. Even though he was not very bright, Nick seemed to like him quite a lot. During the party, Nick had talked a lot about his past, his youth, his time as a runaway and how he got by becoming a con artist. Judy noted that her father and Gideon seemed to be quite fascinated by that. "Live played some foul cards on him, that's for sure", Stu said, "No wonder he got criminal. But they never caught him, did they? Clever guy, he is. He had to met someone like my Jude to bring out all the good in him!", he told one of his neighbours proudly.

Later, Nick heaved himself out of his chair, "Man, I am stuffed, I need to walk some steps… hey, Gid, come along, will you? Bring two cans of this great beer – or four, if you can carry them!" Gideon smiled, grabbed the beer and followed Nick. They walked for a while until Nick said, "What's wrong, pal? Something's on your mind, or not?" Gideon sighed, "Two things, to be exact… I don't know if Judy ever told you… when we were kids…" – "Ahhh, come on, man, don't start with that kindergarden fight…", Nick said, but Gideon shook his head, "No, Nick, really, this still haunts me… I have ripped my claws through her face, a miracle she doesn't have any scars left…" – "Yeah, but according to what she told me, she kicked you in the face and your lip was bleeding, so I would call it a draw! Come on, Judy is not mad at you, she knows that you have changed, even becoming a business partner of her dad's! But you talked about two points…" – "Oh, yes, sure… it's that… Francine and I want to get married…" Nick turned around, "Really? That's great news! Oh, man, you must tell Judy, she'll freak out!" – "But I would like to ask you a favor… it's a big thing, so I will understand if you can't accept…" – "Spit it out, man, anything!" Gideon took a deep breath, "Okay, it's that… there are not many foxes here in Bunny Burrows and I don't have a real good friend here… and I thought it would be a good idea, if… I mean, without you, Francine and I would never had met at all, so it's thanks to you…" – "Maybe you should thank that panther who shot me… hey, just kidding. But I still don't get, what…" – "Wait, wait, I'm coming to that… I know that we are not… I mean, technically we met today for the first time… and… FUCK, why can't I get it out straight? No wonder everyone thinks I'm a dope! Okay, do you want to be my best man?" The last sentence had shot out of Gideon's mouth so quickly that Nick needed some seconds to grasp the meaning. "Hell, sure! I am honored! But I have one condition – you must be my best man, too, when Judy and I got married! Deal?" – "Deal!"

The two foxes returned arm in arm to the party and when the news spread, everyone was excited. Some bunnies ran away to return with music instruments. The music was strange to Nick's ears but hot and soon the majority was dancing. When Nick took a pause after a dance with Francine, he noted several heads turning towards the farm house. Lights were moving there and Nick saw a big limousine parking in front of the farm. "Who might that be?", asked Stu, "It's well after midnight!" Judy recognized the limo and asked Bonnie, "Mom, have you invited Mr Big, I mean, Luigi?", but Bonnie shook her head vigorously. The doors opened and two huge polar bears exited. Judy and Nick ran towards them – it might not be a good idea to have two animals this large on the party ground as most animals in Bunny Burrows never had seen a polar bear in real life. When they met, one bear opened his paw. In it sat Fru-Fru, looking tired but happy. "Judy! Finally! We wanted to arrive much earlier, but I really have underestimated the distance – and Rufus here", she pointed to one of the bears who rolled his eyes, "was totally lost! Oh, looks like there is a party going on!" – "Yes, a welcome party for Nick, but why have you come all the way from Zootopia – not that you are not welcome, of course, come join us and have a drink!" Fru-Fru let out her high-pitched laugh, "No, thanks a lot. But I am so tired… and little Judy is sleeping in the car. Me and my guys will sleep there, too, it's much too hot here for us arctic animals. But we need to talk first thing in the morning! Good night!" They retreated in the climatized car and Judy and Nick went back to tell Stu and Bonnie about the newcomers. "Oh, I don't think the two bears will fit in our kitchen for breakfast!", Bonnie said. "They won't eat here, they will get pred food in the town", Judy calmed her, "but we should call it a day now…", she looked at the party ground where a lot of animals were about to leave, happy and yawning. They said good bye to everyone which took another hour, Nick got patted on the back so often, hearing "You're a nice fellow, really, for a fox!" from one of Stu's neighbors and took it as a compliment. He was so tired that he slept through the night without having any dreams.


	25. Chapter 25 - Karl & Vanessa

**Chapter 25 – Karl & Vanessa**

The unnerving sound of Judy's alarm clock ended Nick's sleep quite abruptly. When he opened his eyes they got pierced by ray of sunlight. He switched off the alarm. It was 8 am and his head was thumping with a very bad hangover. In addition his legs hurt like crazy. "I shouldn't have danced so much…", he groaned and got out of the bed. Judy was not there, obviously she got up early and set the alarm for him. He took a shower, dried his fur, dressed and walked down in the kitchen that was crowded as usual. Carts full of used dishes had been brought up by a group of bunnies and Bonnie was busy filling the four dishwashers installed in the huge room. She must have gotten up at 5 am as the party ground outside was already cleared and his breakfast stood on the table, including a steaming mug of coffee. "Oh, Nick, you're up, sit down, take your time, Judy will be right back!", she said cheerfully. One of Judy's sisters (Dixie? Trixie? Lexi? He couldn't remember) gave him a hot look purring "Good morning, Nicky…" and batted her eyelashes. Before Nick found a proper way to react, Judy came through the door and grabbed the girl's ear, twisting it, "If I hear you call him 'Nicky' once more, the ear is off, you got me?" – "Ouch, you're mean, leggo, I just wanted to be polite…", squeeled the teen bunny. "Judy, Xenia, stop it, at once!", Bonnie yelled at her daughters, "or you'll spend the rest of the day in the barn, sorting carrots!" – "But, mooooom!" both girls protested simultaneously.

"Hey, Carrots, have you talked to Fru-Fru and found out why she came all the way here?", Nick asked quickly to dissolve the situation. Judy let her sister go, not without giving her a warning look, and sat down next to Nick. "You can ask her yourself, she'll be here any minute – oh, there she is!", she said when it suddenly got dark inside the kitchen. A polar bear blocked the light from the window, they heard him knock politely on the door to the porch. Bonnie opened and the bear set the tiny shrew in the room, together with a miniature stroller where a baby shrew sat and looked curiously around.

"Good morning!", piped Fru-Fru, "Nice to see you again, Bonnie, hi Nick, hi Judy, could someone get the briefcase? I printed the documents out in your size, but I can't carry them now…" Nick hurried to get a rather heavy briefcase out of the polar bears paws. Fru-Fru's daughter yelled "Judyyyyy!" when she recognized her godmother and Judy took her carefully in her paw to exchange kisses and hugs. "My god, Fru-Fru, what's in here?", Nick said as he heaved the briefcase on the table. "Wedding plans, of course!", she said, "We have so many things to talk about, oh, by the way, the date for the wedding will be July, 11th. That's a Saturday! It was kind of tricky to book such a large event on such short a notice, especially the manager of Sahara Square Garden was quite hard to convince, but…" – "Wait, wait, wait!", interrupted Judy, the other Judy sitting on her shoulder, "That would be in less than three weeks! And what do we need Sahara Square Garden for again?" Fru-Fru sighed, "I planned to have it all in Oasis Hotel, but the Great Hall there is much too small for nearly 900 guests, so we will have everybody stay in the hotel and shuttle them in some twenty buses and sixty limos over to the Garden, where we…" – "900 guests?", yelled Nick, "Heck, I don't even know so many animals!" – "Oh, but they all know you, make no mistake about it, Nick, you two are stars now and everyone wants to be present at this historic moment!", Fru-Fru smiled. Judy shook her head, "We don't even know if they will allow us to marry, my neighbors, the Antlersons, had quite some trouble…" – "Maybe, but they don't had the mayor as friend, do they? Lionheart has already approved everything, Nick, be so kind and take out the green folder, there you'll find everything… I have signed in your place, hope you don't mind." Awestruck, Nick looked at the signed applications for marriage, stamped and approved. "Who signed that? If I wouldn't know that I had not signed this, I would think I have!" Fru-Fru waved her tiny paw, "Details, details… oh, by the way, which name you two want to have? You know, you could keep your last names as they are or use a hyphened combination…" Nick looked confused on that, but Judy said determined, "No way. We will have one shared name. And this name will be Wilde!" Everyone looked surprised and Bonnie said "Jude, are you sure?" and Nick said, "Carrots, I won't insist on having it the old traditional way…" – "I am sure. We will be together for all eternity and I want to have the same name as you. Hopps is a typical bunny name, I don't want you to run around with that… but Wilde is not so species related… Judy Wilde… yes, I think I like it that way!"

"Great, that's settled, then!", Fru-Fru smiled, "Oh, Nick, you have found the drafts for the invitations… which color do you prefer? Lilac or burgundy or thiamatblue?" But Nick stared unbelievingly on the fine parchment and showed it to Judy whose jaw dropped. One side was a marvellous photo of them standing ankle deep in a brook. In the background was an impressive waterfall. Nick wore a tuxedo with a green vest and matching bow tie, while Judy looked like a goddess in a beautiful white dress that emphasized her flawless figure. Both smiled in the camera. "How… how did you do that?", Nick asked. Fru-Fru shrugged, "Photoshop. I casted two models. Was kind of hard to find a male fox model, but in the end I found one! For Judy, it was much easier, I simply hired Vanessa." Judy looked puzzled, but Bonnie shrieked, "Vanessa? _The_ Vanessa? Oh, come on, Judy, you _must_ know her, she's been on the cover of Lapine Vogue so often that… wait, here she is!" She rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a fashion magazine.

On the cover was a female bunny with gold-blonde fur posing on a beach in a bikini that Judy would have dared to wear only deep down in a mine at midnight with no spectators in a mile's circle. "Wow!", Nick just said. "And that's her?" Judy kicked him under the table. "Don't drool on the picture… how have you changed the fur color? Fru-Fru, you can't do that, I'm not looking half as gorgeous as she…" – "Oh, my dear Judy, you will, you will. Today at 3 pm, I have arranged Karl Otterfeld to be flown in and he will then measure…" – "What? Karl Otterfeld, the famous designer?", interjected Bonnie once again, her eyes so wide open that they nearly popped out. "Of course", said Fru-Fru, "he made my own wedding dress, too! Do you remember, Judy?" – "Of course, it was great, you looked really beautiful in it!", Judy had to admit. Nick had read the invitation in the mean time and stumbled about the next point. "Fru-Fru, in this invitation draft there is a return card with 'our' address… but we don't live there. Is this the address of your wedding planning office?" He handed the card to Judy, pointing to the address, reading _Judy & Nick, Apt. 1, 0200 Motosuma Plaza, Savannah Central 04000, Zootopia_. Fru-Fru patted her forehead with her paw, "Darn, yes, I totally forgot to tell you that… that's _your_ address. Sorry, Nick, but dad really needed the building, so we packed your stuff together and got it to your new love nest – I am so glad it all got ready just in time!"

Judy laughed at Nick's face, "Man, you get kicked out of your cosy fox burrow rather quickly, didn't you?", she said. "Oh, Judy, we terminated your rental contract with Great Pangolin Apartments, too. Your stuff was relocated the same day!", Fru-Fru said and now Judy's jaw dropped and Nick laughed. Fru-Fru went on, "I scolded dad because he let you guys live in these shabby places, so I had to remind him that you saved my life and little Judy's, too, of course, and I know he had made a deal with his close friend Hideki Motosuma to get the penthouse of the new Motosuma Building… actually it had been two penthouses, but we thought they were too crammy, they had just 2800 sq ft each, so dad ordered Motosuma to change the plan to one big apartment!" Nick and Judy listened open mouthed and Judy stammered, "But… Fru-Fru, you know perfectly well that even two police salarys could not pay the rent for a 5600 sq ft apartment in the most expensive place in Zootopia!" Fru-Fru looked confused, "Rent? Who do you want to pay rent to? The place is yours, oh, that reminds me, you have to sign the deed, Nick, be a darling and take out the white folder, will you?" – "Fru-Fru, I know I saved your life, but this is going too far now. The wedding, the apartment… it cost millions and…" Fru-Fru suddenly jumped high in the air and landed directly on Judy's shoulder, looking straight in her eyes. "Judy, you really think I do that because of you keeping me from getting squashed under a giant donut? You must be joking. You are family, now, and from where we're from, family is everything!" – "Family, family!", squeked little Judy from her other shoulder. "And now back to the details of the wedding…"

They talked for hours and Judy and Nick had given up. Fru-Fru was eager to organize the biggest, most glamorous wedding party of all times to make herself a name in the business and she didn't accept a no. Nick and Judy were allowed to change some minor details, but no more. In the meantime, Bonnie had panicked when thinking of the famous designer coming to her farm and had commanded an army of children to clean and tidy up every room on the farm. "Oh my god, what should I wear?", she said again and again while Stu just shook his head and got out of the way murmuring something about "checking the cabbage on the east field…"

In the afternoon, when Judy, Nick and Fru-Fru enjoyed a late lunch while little Judy played with breadcrumbs on the table, the door slammed open and a group of six bunnies, all boys, stormed in shouting "Mom, mom…!" – "Out!" yelled Bonnie, "I just cleaned the kitchen floor…" – "But mom, a helicopter is landing behind the house…" – "What?" – "Oh, that must be Karl!", Fru-Fru piped happily and Bonnie jumped to the window and stared at the white helicopter landing noisily in her back yard, some hundred meters away from the building. When the engine stopped, the door opened and a pair of golden legs wearing high heels appeared. They belonged to the most beautiful bunny girl Judy had ever seen. Her fur sparkeled in the sun light, she wore a glittering shoulder free short dress. She had a baby face with enormous bright blue eyes that looked curiously around.

She was followed by an otter, one head smaller than her, even though he wore high heels as well, dressed in black suit, black shirt and black tie. The shirt's collar was extremely high, a trademark of Karl Otterfeld, elongating his neck even more. The fur on his head had been dyed snow white and arranged in the most pompous hairdo. Nick thought he looked like a mushroom. Bonnie's ears dropped, "That's… that's Vanessa!" she whispered and Judy added, "Oh my god, how old is she? She looks like twelve! I mean… her face at least, not her figure…" – "She's nineteen!", said Fru-Fru, "She has been on a fashion show with Karl today, no idea why she came along. Karl and her are good friends, he's calling her his 'muse', whatever that means…" These two strangest persons that ever set foot on a carrot farm walked over. Except they didn't walk, Otterfeld made steps so tiny it looked like he was gliding on a magnetic field. While Vanessa strutted so elegantly on her high heels that her hips waved from left to right while her well curved upper half didn't move at all.

Bonnie straightened the black knee long silk skirt and her white blouse for the last time, stuffed her apron in a drawer and opened the door. Karl floated in and, gentleman through and through, reached for Bonnie's paw. "Ahhh, you must be the lady of this charming realm, enchantez ma chérie", he kissed her paw, "You really are a blessing for my old eyes, having such a good…", he lifted her arm and twirled her around, "taste. Black and white, that suits your fur color perfectly." He let her go and Bonnie had glowing red ears when she whispered a shy "Welcome…" Karl had turned to the table, opened his arm and said, "Fru-Fru, daaaarling, come here, oh, and this must be my bride Judy…", he kissed her left and right, "… and my handsome groom, Nick!" He also kissed Nick twice and the look on Nick's face made Judy giggle. "Oh, mes enfants, I brought my Vanessa with me, when she heard that I come here, she insisted to come along…" – "I have never been on a farm before!", Vanessa said with a sweet high voice that sounded more like a shy little girl than of a famous rich top model.

When they were all introduced, Vanessa stared so intensely at Nick that Judy felt a twinge of jealousy coming up. But then she received the same look from her. Vanessa had gripped both of Judy's paws, her fur was so soft like a cloud and she whispered, "I admire you so much…" Judy looked confused, "Why? I should be the one admiring you and, by the way, thanks for impersonating me…" When the model looked confused, Judy showed her the picture on the invitation draft, "Oh, that one! It was fun, I never had a shooting with a fox model before… but the real Nick is much more handsome…", she threw a glowing look towards the embarrassed fox, but before Judy could say something, Vanessa had taken a closer look at the picture, "Oh, we are standing in the water! Cool! We took the pictures in the studio, the background was added later… I'd loved to do that at a real waterfall…", she sighed. The otter clapped his hands. "Busy day, busy day… should we start?" Bonnie guided Judy, Karl and Fru-Fru into the living room.

Vanessa stood forlorn at the table when Nick tried to break the ice by pushing a plate in her direction, "Blueberry cake?", he asked. Shyly she sat down, her eyes as big as the plate. "You won't tell anyone, do you?", she whispered, "I am not allowed to eat fruit sugar…" She bit off a tiny piece and two minutes later four cakes were gone, her paws and face were full of blue stains. Nick smiled. Now she looked like a little kid. Bonnie came back and looked a bit confused when she saw the munching model. She got out the magazine again and put it on the table with a pen. "Would you mind…" The golden bunny squeezed "'course!" around half a pound of cake and signed it together with a blueberry paw print. Then she fixed her hypnotic blue eyes on Bonnie, "You made the cakes yourself?", she asked nearly inaudible, "Yes! Do you like them?" – "Yeah, they're great… is this a real farm?" Bonnie looked around, "I think so…", she said. Vanessa continued, "I mean, you have a huge burrow underground and have hundreds of kids down there?" – "Well, yes!", Bonnie replied not without pride, when one of Judy's sisters stormed in, shouting, "Mom, Jeremy is teasing me, he said that…", she stopped when she saw the blonde bunny, "Who the heck is that?", she asked. "Janice, be polite, she is one of our guests. Her name is Va…" – "Paula!", the model quickly interrupted, "My real name is Paula… but they said it is too normal, so I had to use… that other name", she said. Bonnie said, "Janice, why don't you show V… I mean, Paula, our burrows?" Janice giggled, "You will have problems getting down there in these!", she pointed at the high heels and Paula quickly kicked them off and under the table. "Sorry…", she whispered, "I have to wear them for… for work. How old are you?" – "Fifteen! And you?" She hesitated before answering, "Nearly the same… just a bit older…" Paw in paw the two walked down and Nick said to Bonnie, "Strange, that's the second model I met, that doesn't seem to be happy about her job at all…"

As soon as Bonnie had closed the living room door, Judy had to stand on the table. "Good", Karl said, "now strip!" – "What?" – "Chérie, I have to measure you…" Reluctantly, Judy took of her clothes and prayed silently that her father would not come in as it would be quite hard to explain the situation to him. Karl and Fru-Fru stared at her naked body so intensively, Judy had to look away. They started a strange dialogue: "Long!", said Fru-Fru. "Definetely. Colour?", asked Karl. "Dunno… mauve?" – "too mundane… something more close to nature… wait…" They looked at each other and said "Lemon Grass!", simultaneously. "Petticoat?" – "Yes, a wired one…", sighed Karl, "we have to hide her gigantic feet somewhere… what are those?", he poked Judy's belly, "Ouch! That's my navel…" – "No, no, around it, those bumps…" – "Hey, those are called muscles!" – "Such a beautiful bunny and then a six pack! There goes my idea of a belly free oriental dress…", Karl put his hand in a dramatic pose against his forehead. Judy felt uncomfortable when Karl's fingers ran over her butt and down her legs. "Muscles, muscles everywhere… Two feet three… six inches, four inches, seven and a half… one foot four… six and seven eights…" He was not using a tape measure, he seemed to measure her by eye and he was not writing anything down. Judy sighed. That's gonna be a long session…

Meanwhile, Paula aka Vanessa got the VIP tour through the burrows under the farm. "It's so cool walking barefoot!", she admitted to Janice, "I can't remember when I did that the last time!" – "Really?", Janice answered, "I nearly never wear shoes… except, if you call Wellies shoes…" – "Wellies?" – "Yeah, Wellington boots… I just wear them for the really dirty work!" – "You need to work a lot?" – "Yeah, mom and dad let us work like slaves… pull out weeds, help with the harvest, help with the seeding, collect stones from the field, so the ploughs wouldn't get damaged…" – "Wow, that sounds cool!" – "Really? How come you've never been in a burrow before?" – "I am an only child…" – "WHAT?" Janice and all the bunnies around stared at her. They had never before heard of a bunny that had no siblings at all. "When my mom got her first litter… there were complications, so she wasn't able to get more children. We had been a litter of three, but my two brothers died very young. Dad is an attorney and mom is a vet, so we lived in a huge apartment on the 29th floor in Zootopia. There are no burrows, but I always wanted to be in one…" Full of sympathy, Janice pressed Paula's paw even tighter when she showed her a circular little cave. "Here I sleep!", she said proudly, "Alone?" – "No, I am never alone… most of the time, two or three sisters of me join me in here and there is no door, so you always see and hear some of the others around!", explained Janice.

"Never alone…", Paula repeated longingly and Janice's instinct told her to change subjects. "I really love this dress of yours…" – "You can have it, let's trade! I always wanted to wear one of those plaid shirts!" – "You're kidding?", Janice said and watched speechlessly as Paula pulled the fancy dress off her skinny but voluptous body. Janice took the dress and inhaled deeply as she recognized the label. "That's Preyda! This must cost hundreds of bucks!" Paula grinned, "Twelve hundred, to be exact. But I get them for free. Take it, really, I have more than a hundred!" Janice ripped off her own clothes and pulled over the dress. Suddenly, Paula realized that she was standing in a huge group of bunnies and was totally naked except for a small slip. But when she looked around, no one, not even the boys, seemed to care. Two other girls helped her dress in knee long jeans and the plaid cotton shirt. "Man, your waist is really slim… you must pull the belt in the last hole. And no way to close the shirt over those boobs… let's see… we just knot it under here, then it's belly free… cool! How did you get fur like this?" – "It just turned this way when I was eight years old… a rare genetic factor said my mom…" Suddenly, two boys stormed in, "Hey, girls, stop the fashion show, the hay needs to be turned before dinner, or dad will cut our allowance! Hey, blondie, you wanna help us? But I warn ya, you gotta get really dirty!" Paula eyes glistened, "You promise?"

Judy was happy when she finally could put on her clothes again. Karl seemed to be happy about the progress, but the entire creative process was happening inside his head, so Judy had no idea how the final result would look like. "So, the dress will be ready… let's see… Thursday before your wedding. I'll visit you in your apartment, then you'll see, you gonna be the happiest bride in the world!", Karl promised. They walked back in the kitchen where Bonnie had prepared dinner. Karl and Fru-Fru immediately sat down, little Judy was sleeping in her stroller. "Where's Nick?", Judy asked and Bonnie made a quick 'Psst' gesture and pulled her to the oven. "He's searching for Paula", Bonnie hissed, "Who's Paula?" – "I mean, Vanessa… long story… she went down to the burrow but Nick didn't found her there, so I have sent him outside…"

Right this moment, Nick opened the door, grinning, "I found her… sort of…", but before Bonnie could ask, a loud "Wooo-hoooo!" was heard and in stormed Paula/Vanessa. Not for the first time this day Judy's mouth stood wide open. If it wasn't for the blonde fur, she had not recognized her. Instead of the shy, awkward girl she saw what seemed to be the happiest being in Zootopia. She was so excited that she jumped up und down while speaking. "We have turned the hay! And I sorted carrots! And cut cabbage! And rode on a tractor! And look at the cool clothes I got for my dress!" Karl Otterfeld, the famous designer, looked at his joyful top model and said, "Yes… that's very… rural… where are your shoes?" – "I wear none!", she shrieked and burst out in laughter. Then she saw the table, "Oh, great, food! I think I've never been so hungry in my life!" Bonnie looked sadly at her kitchen floor that was now full of mud. "What happened to your… oh, no, sweet girl, your pants are soaking wet and… ewww… so muddy!" Paula's smile became even wider, "I jumped in a mud puddle!" she said with her mouth full.

Two hours later, finally everything was back to normal on the Hopps's farm. Paula had said goodbye to some fifty new friends and Judy was amazed that the model had learned all their names correctly in such a short time. She must have been very lonely, she thought. When she snuggled up with Nick in bed, she said, "First Kitty, than Paula… am I mistaken or have all these models serious childhood complexes?" – "I'd rather think their parents had serious problems, not the kids. When I saw Paula playing with your brothers and sisters, she looked like she never had a day of fun in her whole life. Poor girl. I like her. I mean, I like Paula much more than Vanessa", said Nick. But the only answer he got was the soft breathing that told him Judy was already asleep.


	26. Chapter 26 - The Lake

**Chapter 26 – The Lake**

Even though Judy's original plan to spent a quiet time at her parents' home got jeopardized during the first days, Nick's state of health had improved quite a bit. Thanks to Bonnie's home cooking he had even gained a pound and looked now much better. Over the next days, they walked a lot, Judy showed him all her childhood places. For Nick, who has never been in the rural areas, every little detail was new and exciting. "You know what's strange?", he once said to Judy, "When you look in the distance, let's say into a forest and nothing moves! In the city, everything is moving, always. But to look at such a big area, with nearly no movement at all, that's really fascinating." He also spent quite some time with Stu, sitting on the spare seat of the tractor, switching seats from time to time, helping him with the endless list of farming chores. Sometimes they talked agitatedly, sometimes they were silent for hours.

One evening, when Judy was in the barn with her dad helping him loading the truck for market day, he suddenly said, "He's fine. Your Nick, I mean." – "Yeah, I know", she said. "No, I mean… what I wanted to say… he once asked for my blessing to… you know… and I really think now… that he is the right one for you. I'd been prejudiced and stuff… but now, as I know him better… he's really a fine fellow." Without a word, Judy hugged her father and so they stood in silence for some minutes until they heard Bonnie shouting, "Stu! Jude! Are you coming inside? I want to lock the back door!" They walked back, arm in arm and Judy knew that her father could not have praised her future husband higher than calling him a 'fine fellow'.

Nick and Judy restarted their training program, first jogging, then running and slowly but steadily Nick regained his strength. Unfortunately, the nightmares came back, too, even though Nick tried to hide that. After two days of rainy weather, the Saturday started with bright sunshine and Judy and Nick decided to make a longer hiking trip with a picknick. The packed everything in a small four wheeled cart that Nick should pull to improve his arm and breast muscles. When Nick pulled the cart, he said, "It's to light, it will crush in my heels all the time. We should take more food!" Judy, looking extremely sharp in white hot pants and tight tank top laughed, "You wish. Mom already overdid it with the picknick stuff and we have more than two gallons of water. We should get some weights…" When Nick turned back to the cart he shrieked out loud in surprise as the cart was suddenly occupied with a snow white passenger, "Fay, oh my goodness, you nearly gave me a heart attack! How did you suddenly appear in here?" Fay just smiled at him. Nick estimated the distance to the farmhouse to some fifty yards of open space without any cover, so he wondered how this blind bunny, that literally glowed in the bright sunlight, had managed to get so close to him without him noticing. Judy looked puzzled, too, "You are outside? At daylight? What's wrong, is the farm on fire?", she said ironically. "You are mean, sis', I just overheard mom talking about your tour and thought it might be a good idea to join you!" – "But… but you refused to go out for such a long time!", Bunny said confused, "One reason more!", Fay said. She wore a pair of white jeans, she seemed to have cut off the legs over the knee herself, as both legs had different lengths, and a white tight T-shirt. She had made herself comfortable in the small cart, the basket with the picknick stuff on her lap, her eerie empty white eyes seemed to pierce Nick who suddenly felt cold in the blazing sunlight. "Why not?", he just said to Judy and she shrugged, "Yeah, why not?"

So they started their journey, along the fields then into the woods. Fay seemed to enjoy herself and soon enough she started to sing. In contrast to her piercing high speaking voice, her singing voice was much deeper and very melodic. Judy started to sing along but when she tried to convince Nick to do the same, he laughed, "No, no, honey bunny, I won't spoil your beautiful voices with my singing… I couldn't hold a tune if my life depended on it!" So he just listened. Judy's voice was powerful, but warm and he thought by himself that the two sisters could have made quite a duo.

Short before noon they had to climb a hill and Nick was sweating a lot in the heat pulling up the cart. But it felt good, the soreness in his muscles was gone and for the first time he really started believing that he would rejoin police forces in nine days with his full strength. Suddenly Fay said, "This hill… this is Rabscuttle's Knee, isn't it?" Judy was amazed, "Why, yes! How did you find out?" They had never talked about where they were going, mainly because Judy had no fixed route planned and they had not taken a direct path but criss-crossed and even circled a lot, so she really wondered how her blind sister could have found out. "The smell…", she just said, "Acorn leaves, wild roses and I hear the small brook far away… we are quite close to our secret hide-out, aren't we?" Judy looked around, "Yeah… I think our lake must be some fifteen minutes away!" – "You have a secret lake?", Nick asked curiously. Fay leaned back and sighed, "Yes, it has always been the most beautiful place in the world for me… Judy and I discovered it when we roamed through the forest when I still could see. And we told no one!" Judy laughed, "Yes, Nick, so I hope you appreciate that you are privileged now. But it is just an old quarry that was flooded. The area is fenced off and I don't know who is the owner – or if it is still there, it's been nearly twenty years!" – "Let's find out!", Fay said happily. "Really?", Judy asked, "The place will probably be totally overgrown, maybe the lake dried up…" – "Let's find out!", she just said again, "We could have our picknick there!" Judy exhaled loudly, "Oooookay… let's see if I find it from here…"

They marched on and after half an hour and some wrong turns they reached a rusted fence. PRIVATE PROPERTY, DO NOT ENTER! ELECTRIC FENCE! said the sign. "How did you get over this?", Nick asked. "The power was already gone twenty years ago…" Judy laughed when Nick touched the fence and quickly withdrew his paw, but there was no power, of course. When Nick pushed, the rusted fence posts just cracked and the entire six foot segment fell in the weeds. They walked down a slope, the cart now in front of Nick. Braking was difficult, so he was soaked in sweat when they arrived at a clearing. The fox wiped his forehead and looked around. The lake was half a mile in diameter with what seemed like a small, tree overgrown island in the middle. The shore was full of shrubs and trees and the clearing seemed to be the only access to the lake. The water was brown. On one side of the clearing stood the remains of a rusted bulldozer with broken windshield.

"I can smell the water!", shrieked Fay, "Judy, tell me, is it still as beautiful as when we were kids?" – "There are much more trees now… The island is covered with them. Earlier, you could see the other shore from this side." Judy laid down a huge blanket and unpacked the food. Nick lifted Fay out of the cart. How light she was! Judy and Nick sat down next to Fay and started to drink and eat. Nick still missed pred food a little, despite Bonnie's great vegetarian cooking and baking. But he could never get enough of her blueberry tarts and Bonnie had packed a lot of them. Raspberry cream, carrot cake and fresh lettuce, arranged with a spicy sauce and a huge bucket of all kind of berries lifted the mood. Fay just nibbled a carrot and helped herself with berries while Judy and Nick tucked in.

During lunch, Nick noticed how quite this place was. This lake had it's own beauty and he could understand why two little bunny kids found it attractive. Everything, the new apartment, their much disputed wedding, police duty, the still unsolved riddles of tame collars and El Ahrairah and even his nightmares seemed so far away. He inhaled deeply. The air smelled so full of life… this called for another blueberry tart.

"That's your fourth!", Judy reprimanded him. "So what, are you counting?" – "I just hope you'll fit in your uniform when you start working in nine days!", she said but Nick knew she wasn't serious about that. He had lost so much weight in hospital that his uniform would most likely be too big. Judy turned to her sister, "Really, Fay, you should look at yourself…" – "I can't!", the white bunny said and pointed at her blank eyes she had opened wide. Now she really looked like out of a horror movie. "Dammit, you know what I mean… you are full of berry juice, your face, your paws…" – "No problem, I'll wash it off… or, even better, let's all swim!" – "Are you sure this is safe?", Nick said and looked at the brown water. There was no way seeing what lies beneath or even how deep it was. Judy nodded, "There might be broken equipment down there, or sharp edges or broken glass…" Fay frowned, "We never cared about this when we were kids and nothing ever happened…" – "But we haven't brought swimsuits or towels…", Judy tried again and Fay broke out in her shrill eerie laughter, "We _never_ brought any towels or swimsuits!", she shrieked, "Come on, Nick is your future husband, from the noises you two make at night I take it he knows your naked butt quite well…" – "FAY!" – "… and I am blind anyway, so who cares? Come on Judy, let's swim to the island, I want to see if the meadow is still there…" – "You won't see!", Judy said and Fay answered with Judy's earlier retort, "Dammit, you know what I mean…", but she said it with Judy's voice. "For Pete's sake, Fay, I told you thousands of times to not imitate me… it freaks me out!" She looked at Nick, "You should hear her doing my father's voice, even mom fell for it… NO, DON'T DO IT!", she yelled when Fay opened her mouth. "That freaks me out even more!"

Fay gave a dirty grin and got up, "Okay it's decided… we swim and I'm quiet… last one in the water is a dried-up prune!" And she started running, pulling off her T-shirt and throwing it away. "No, Fay, wait, there is a tree… to the left, to the left!", shouted Judy. She cursed and ran after her, but Fay was astonishingly fast for someone who couldn't see. She hobbled on one leg while taking off her jeans and her slip at the same time. With that maneouver she lost enough speed, so Judy could grab her arm. "Gotcha!" But Fay turned around, let out a loud scream and shouted, "OH MY GOD, WHAT A HUGE PRICK!" Judy, the trained police officer, fell for that trick and turned around, just to see the still dressed Nick who had turned around, too. "Ooof!" Fay had kicked Judy in the back of her knee and Judy toppled over, letting go of Fay's arm. With screaming laughter Fay reached the shore. As soon as her feet sensed the cold water she put her arms in front and jumped headlong in. Horrific pictures of an impaled white bunny rushed through Judy's mind for two seconds until said bunny resurfaced, laughing, "I can't believe it, she forgot I'm blind, hahahahaha…", she got water in her mouth and started to choke, still laughing and spitting. "Serves you right!", Judy said when a red flash went past her, tugging her ears, "You are the dried-up prune!" he yelled and landed with an impressive belly flop next to Fay, who got splashed and started singing, "Ju-dy is a dried-up pruuuune, nananananaaaaahna!" – "Yeah, great!", Judy grumbled even though she had to smile.

She took off her clothes and walked slowly in. The water was ice cold, but when she was hip deep, she jumped and dived. Nick yelled, "More to the right, Fay! Yes, go on like this!" The reached the small island and Nick climbed out first. The bank was steep and overgrown and after two failed attempts to navigate Fay ashore, Nick walked back in the water and carried her. Fay giggled and put both her arms around his neck and Judy felt that twinge of jealousy again. Somehow, being naked with him in front of her sister was awkward, blind or not. But he went in again and carried Judy up the same way while they kissed and the feeling vanished. After some steps, they reached indeed a meadow, full of knee high grass and wild flowers.

With wet fur, Nick realized for the first time how small and fragile Fay was. Even though she was the same age as Judy, she was at least two heads smaller and weighed about half as much. Her legs were thin like matches and he could easily count her ribs. She had nearly no breasts. Judy, on the other hand was a sexy package full of muscles and a perfect pair of boobs. Seeing her standing in the high grass, soaking wet, wringing out her long ears with both paws, made him realize again how much he was physically attracted to her. If this really was against nature, he didn't care. "Judy, help me finding beautiful flowers, I make diadems for you and for me!", Fay said.

Watching two good looking nude bunnies bending forward was too much for Nick. First, he tried to think of something else, then he thought _what the heck_ and let his member grow. Fay was blind anyway, so what? When Judy turned around and saw him, the inside of her ears turned crimson, her face looked shocked and she turned around to Fay. But the little white bunny was totally occupied in tying the flowers together, tongue out. Judy stood up, but Fay said, "No wait, yours is ready, let me put it on… no, your ears must be _inside_ , hold still, will you? Nick, how does she look?" – "Awesome…" Nick said with hoarse voice and Judy smiled. "I need more flowers", Fay said, "I'll go to the other side, it will take me at least… let's say, thirty minutes, before I'm back!" Judy gawked at her when she stood up and walked off slowly, "What do you mean…?" but Fay just vanished in the shrubs. Two seconds later, Nick was over Judy and pressed her to the ground. "No, Nick, we shouldn't do this… she might still hear…" But any resistance vanished when his paw moved down her perfect belly and deeper. She moaned and opened her legs and time stopped and everything was perfect.

After they had finished, Judy was embracing Nick's bushy tail while he pressed her head against his breast, kissing her forehead and licking the sensitive inside of her ears. Eating food and making love had made him drowsy and before he knew he went over in the world of dreams…

 _Crouching behind the car in the dark alley. Twitching every time a bullet hits metal. "We need to get behind them!" he yelled, yet he was unable to move. It happened all over again, but every time was different. This time, it is Judy who jumped up and started running to the other side. "No, Carrots, no!" he yells but the black figure stands there already, pulling the trigger. Judy falls down, screams and the black figure takes her up holds her towards him. Blood gushes out of her belly and she screams even louder. "Look what I do to your sweetheart, you pervert scum!" the black figure yells and grabs Judy by both ankles, pulls her apart until her legs are one line. Her screams become unbearable and Nick presses his paws over his hears. But he hears the gruesome cracking sounds, her legs are turned and twisted, then one leg rips off. The piercing screams make him close his eyes but he sees nonetheless, sees how the black figure lifted her in the air and let her crash down on the concrete. Her scull shatteres and she was silent. Nick is lying on the floor, curls up, cries, then a shot, intensive pain, darkness._

 _Darkness again… He is there and he is not. A voice. A voice in the distance. "…ick…" Getting closer. "Nick…" He turns around but the blackness is complete. "Nick!" A high pitched voice, hurts in the ear, hurts his mind, hurts his soul. The moment he fears most… a pin hole of light in the black cloak around him. "No…", he said. Coming closer, getting bigger, getting brighter. "No, go away, leave me alone!" Bright, brighter, brightest, lightbulb, sun, supernova, right in front of his hurting eyes. He starts trashing around, kicking, screaming…_

… wailing, more kicking, his paws, couldn't move his paws… with a final scream he opened his eyes. The light was bright until he realized that he looked into the sun. His paws were pressed to the ground by Judy and Fay, one on each side of his stirring body. Both girls faced him full of sorrow. Judy was on the verge of crying, "Oh, Nick, what was that? You screamed as if you have seen the dead…" – "He has…", Fay said in her dark eerie voice, her body limp, her blank eyes staring expressionless in the distance. Nick sat up and tried to smile, "It was just a nightmare… I ate too much, I think. Don't look at me that way, fluff butt, I'm still alive!" Judy looked angry, but said nothing. "Let's swim back. It's getting late", she said calmly, but her heart was still racing. Slowly they progressed through the thick foliage, Judy marching in front, Nick leading Fay by the hand. She was quite slow and when Judy was way up front, she whispered, "Peter Pan…" – "What?" – "Do like Peter did… think happy thoughts…" Nick snorted, "Yeah, that's a good idea… it's hard to think something happy when you see Judy…", he stopped mid sentence and Fay nodded, "I know. But if you panic, you wake up and the dream will come back until you understood the message!" Nick stopped and turned around angrily, "We'll all die! It's that the fucking message?" – "No, that's the truth. The message goes deeper…" – "… and you know it, don't you? Then tell me, for fuck's sake!" Judy's voice echoed from the shore, "Where are you, guys? Everything okay?" – "Yeah, we're coming!", Nick yelled back. "I can't tell you", Fay whispered, "I could help you, but… this would cost us both a lot…" Nick sighed and didn't answer. He was quite sure, Fay hadn't meant money with her cryptic remark.

They swam back, dressed, packed up their stuff and started to walk back. The sun was already low but now they were walking the direct way that was, according to Judy, just one hour long. Fay was sitting in her cart, happy and talkative, she told Nick stories from when she and Judy were kids. Out of nowhere she asked, "How was your sex on the island?" Nick started to cough and Judy went berserk, "Fay! You don't ask things like that… and, by the way, eavesdropping is nasty!" – "I wasn't eavesdropping! The island is not big enough to hide from you guys being so noisy… how come no one speaks of sex openly except us bunnies?", Fay asked. Nick raised an eyebrow, "Do they? I thought it is just a common prejudice that bunnies are all about sex…" Judy sighed, "We are not!" – " _You_ are not!", interjected Fay. "And _you_ are obsessed with sex!", contered Judy and said to Nick, "When she is in the heat, she lures boys in the barn!" Fay smiled, "Yes, it's fun! They love having sex with me, you see, I am infertile due to the sickness I had, so they risk no pregnancy and because I'm blind they think I don't know who they are!" Nick gulped, "Could we change the subject here?" – "Why? Don't you like have sex? Because it sounded like you are enjoying it a lot…" – "FAY!" – "Oh, my sister is strange… she take pills to suppress nature… what's so bad about getting laid thrice a year?" Judy did a facepalm, "Would you please cut it out?" – "No, I want to know, why you take these stupid pills instead of enjoying what nature had arranged and endure the side effects instead!", Fay insisted. "What side effects?" Nick asked. "Don't tell him!", Judy yelled, "I swear it, I'll strangle you if you tell him your stupid theory!" – "Okay, relax, I won't…", Fay put on a sinister grin, "Oh, Nick, do you like sport?" – "Sure!", he said quickly, happy that she finally changed subject. But her grin became even wider, "Did you know, that if masturbation would be an olympic discipline, there would be a pile of gold medals in Judy's room?"

It took Nick fifteen minutes to convince Judy to not abandon her blind sister in the forest, but he could not prevent a good hard ear pull. When they arrived at the farm, it was already dark and Judy was still grouchy. Fay, on the other hand, jumped in Stu's arms, laughed like crazy and talked about "the best day of my life!" After that, she immediately vanished in her room, singing and giggling. After a brief dinner, Nick and Judy went up, too, undressed and took a shower together. It felt great on Nick's sore muscles and when they laid huddled up together under the blanket and Nick asked her where she hid her gold medals, she giggled and tried to pull his ear and one thing lead to another… when Nick finally fell asleep, he was much too tired for any kind of dream.


	27. Chapter 27 - Sister vs Sister

**Chapter 27 – Sister vs. Sister**

 _Finding herself in the hospital again, Judy opens the door and walks silently through a neon-lit room. It looks different… until she realizes, that it is not Nick's room; it's Fay's._

 _Fay lies in her bed, five years old, so small, skin and bones, a bandage covers both her eyes. Judy remembers this scene well, except now she is grown up and is wearing her uniform._

 _She reaches for her sister's paw. "Fay, be strong! You will be better soon and we'll go home. Dad has prepared our own rooms, we'll live there together!"_

 _She says the same words she said then and Fay replies in kind, speaking in a dark voice; one that Judy has never heard her sister use, "Yes, Judy, I'll come… but I won't be the same. You will not like me… I have changed. I can't see anymore, and yet I see strange things and hear strange voices. I don't like what they tell me…"_

" _What are you babbling about? I will ALWAYS love you, you know that!"_

 _Fay laughed, that dark unusual laughter, "Oh Judy, there will come a day when you hate me. But listen, Jude the dude, when the time comes, when you have fulfilled your dreams, when you have all you ever desired, you must trust me! You won't believe a word I say, but you must trust me, promise me!"_

" _Oh Fay, I don't understand, what…"_

 _The petite bunny kid jumped up, her face a distorted mask, shouting, "PROMISE ME! PROMISE ME!"_

" _Yes, yes, I promise… I promise… please, Fay, stop that, I can't stand it…"_

 _Fay sinks back in her cushion, the sweet little Fay with her high pitched voice, "Ohhh… what's wrong, Judy, why are you crying?"_

 _Judy wipes her nose, "Nothing… nothing…"_

 _Nothing…_

Judy awoke, leaning against Nick's warm body, covered with his wonderfully soft tail. He was breathing slowly, so he wasn't dreaming, at least. She checked the alarm clock: 6:02 am.

Carefully, she got up, grabbed her clothes and walked out of the room.

 _What a strange dream!_

She'd nearly forgotten about that day in the hospital, it had been a miserable time, no one had known if Fay would survive or not. And she had become so strange…

Already the dream had started to vanish from her mind, as dreams usually do. She would go down, have breakfast and let him sleep for another hour or so. She walked down the stairs without making a sound

Equally silent, the door next to Judy's bedroom opened slowly and another bunny, even more careful, sneaked out.

 _In his dreams, the situation with the black panther is unlike it had been in reality. With each new dream, Nick tries something different each time but it always turned into a disaster_

 _This time, he runs to the car, reaching cover. Just as he's about to celebrate, he hears Judy's scream. He turns around, in shock and sees the black figure above her small body, it pulls the trigger and Judy's head explodes._

" _No! No!" He runs back, but the black figure is gone. He holds Judy, kisses her mutilated head, when suddenly, she kisses him back. He looks. She smiles at him, her head intact. He blinks and the scenery has changed. Judy is naked, lying on the sandy beach, sunset and all._

" _Happy thoughts!", she whispers in his ear and he realizes he is naked, too. They make love and it is their usual sex to the tenth power, he is no fox, she is no bunny, she is a goddess, he is the creator of all beings and they create a new universe… happy thoughts, of course! Happy thoughts… Happy…_

He awoke with a grin on his face, noticing immediately that Judy was not lying next to him. The aftermath of his dream gripped him and he felt a big orgasm coming. The last time an embarrassing thing like this had happened was when he was a teenager. Judy would not like it if he spoiled her covers, but it was too late. His entire body cramps together and he groans through his clenched teeth while unloading once, twice, thrice, four times.

He relaxed, panting. _A great way to wake up,_ he thought, checking the clock. 7:16 am.

It was then he began to realize that the warmth between his legs was not natural.

 _It couldn't be…_

Nick jerked away the covers and froze in shock when he saw the white bundle between his legs. Fay was kneeling like a sphinx, a malicious grin on her face, her blank white eyes staring at him. A white thin thread leading from the tip of his still pulsing member to the corner of her mouth.

She purred, "Rise and shine, sweet foxy!"

It took Nick a fraction of a second to jump out of bed and cover himself with a pair of jeans that were hanging on a chair. "What are you… how can you… are you insane?", he yelled at her.

She rolled on her back and stretched like a happy cat. "Happy thoughts!", she grinned, "Do you remember? I think I created a few…"

In a hurry, Nick grabbed his other clothes, slamming the door as he left.

"No thanking me? How rude!", Fay said giggling. She rolled around, inhaling deeply, basking in the fox smell. One month ago she would have run away screaming if she had smelled a fox within the house and now… she laughed out loudly, this was a thing she _hadn't_ seen in advance, wasn't it funny? But she had no time to enjoy this anymore, busy day, busy day, she had to prepare quite a few things in a very short time.

So she jumped out of the bed and hurried back into her room. _Well,_ she thought, giggling again, _at least I already had a yummy breakfast!_

After having a mug of coffee, Judy took a walk; climbing the small hill she saw the last veils of mist above the southern fields. Her mom was busy in the burrow and her dad had taken a gang of ten of her siblings to the other side of the farm to repair some fences. It was so quiet that she could hear the porch door open from a distance.

When she turned around, she saw Nick. He was looking around as he buttoned his shirt. Spotting Judy, Nick started walking rather quickly towards her and she knew immediately that something was wrong. _Seriously_ wrong.

Five minutes later, Judy walked back and forth in front of Nick who just stood there, his head down. Tears were streaming from Judy's eyes. "I don't get it… why is she doing these things? What have I done to her? I thought she was joking around, when she talked about… oh, that damned little slut!" Nick sighed, "I am sorry, Carrots. I just wanted to be nice to her, maybe she got it all wrong, and…"

"No, Nick, it's not your fault. Believe me, I have known her all my life. And now, I will talk to that little Miss slutty cock sucker myself!" Fuming, she marched off. Nick thought for a second, and eventually decided to stay put; better to not meddle in family affairs.

Judy stormed up the stairs intend on crashing through her sister's door, but Fay had spoiled that big entrance; the door was locked.

"Fay! Open that fucking door! Now!"

"Oh, hi Judy! Sorry, I can't! The key is out of reach!"

The happy, high pitched sing-song voice enraged Judy even more. "Stop these stupid little games! Open the door, now!"

"You forgot to say 'police'", Fay giggled, "I thought, a real cop would be a bit cleverer than this…"

"Why, you dirty little…", Judy started, but then she realized, that Fay was right – she should have been cleverer. Judy knew that her mom kept a spare key in the kitchen for situations like this – Fay had locked herself in and refused to open before.

Judy needed seven seconds to rush down, open the drawer, grab the key and return to Fay's room. She unlocked the door and opened it. "What the fuck…"

Fay sat on a chair, smiling at Judy. Her legs were duct taped to the legs of the chair. More tape had been used to fix her torso and neck to the backrest. Both her arms were behind her back where they were taped together tightly around her wrists. On the floor, below her paws was the half empty roll of duct tape. The room key lay innocently on Fay's bed.

If Fay had wanted to distract Judy, well, she had succeeded. "Who did that to you?", Judy asked.

"Myself!", she claimed happily.

When Judy bent forward to remove the tape, Fay yelled, "No! I want this to be that way… it's easier for you, believe me."

"Oooookay… And now, dear sister, could you please tell me, why you sneaked into my room and molested Nick?"

"It's called a blow-job, sis", Fay grinned and Judy noticed the dried cum around her mouth, a fact that did not improve her mood at all.

"I don't care what you call it! He didn't want it!"

"You think so? Oh, officer, please, could you tell me, do molested people groan and have erections you could plough a frozen field with and get orgasms so huge I had problems swallowing?"

Her high pitched mocking voice made Judy crazy, "He was asleep, stupid bitch! He didn't even know it was you! Technically, he could sue you for sexual assault!"

To Judy's anger, Fay threw back her head and burst out in loud laughter, "Yeah! Arrest me, officer, please! Get out your handcuffs and beat me! Use pepper spray! Haven't you brought your baton? Your partner has, that's for sure, I licked it myself and I will…"

With a sickening sound, Judy's paw hit her sister's face which lolled back. But Fay was still smiling sinisterly and her voice was dark now, that strange voice, low and eerie, that made Judy's fur stand up. "That's it? All that police training and that's all you manage? You hit like a girly-girl, I'm not even bleeding, for crying out loud! Teach me a real lesson or I'll go down and suck him off again in a minute! Oh, and by the way, sis', how did you get that gorgeous huge prick in your dried virgin pussy? I bet you bled like hell…"

This time, Judy hit her hard in the face. Blood was shooting out of Fay's nose and she choked. Judy threw herself on Fay's bed and burst out in tears.

For some minutes, the only sound you could hear from the small room was Judy sobbing and Fay panting through her open mouth as her nose had swollen shut. When Judy finally lifted her head and looked at her sister, Fay spit out some blood which landed on her formerly white dress and just said, "Feeling better now?"

Judy wiped her tears, "Yes, a little. Will you let me remove this fucking tape now?"

Fay just shrugged and said "Yeah…"

Judy needed nearly ten minutes to get off the tape, "I don't get it… how did you wrap yourself up like this?"

"Oh, I know a trick, or two…"

With a wet towel, Judy tried to clean up the mess, but it was hopeless. "No, don't lean your head back! The blood will run down your throat… here, press the cold towel to the back of your head…" Judy looked at her sister, "If you're waiting for an apology, you could wait forever!", she said angrily.

"Wanna beat me again?", Fay grinned, "You haven't even used your claws…"

"Oh, stop it, will you? You and your dirty tricks… you provoked me. I can't believe I hit you… Why are you doing all this?"

"You won't understand…"

"Fay, stop this airy-fairy talk about messages from the spirit world that no one but you understands… you know, I don't believe it!"

"Well, suit yourself…", Fay said.

Judy hesitated before asking, "And you have not fallen in love with Nick and wanted to steal him away when…"

Fay snorted, "Hell, no. No one can take him away from you, believe me. I like him, though. He is the kindest soul I've ever met… and I bet, you will have great sex with him…"

"Don't start this again!", Judy said warningly.

"Okay, okay… I don't love him and I won't touch him again. I had my reasons to do what I've done. Just trust me!"

"Pfff… great!"

Judy sank back on Fay's bed rubbing her head with both paws. "Why do we have to be so different? Why can't I understand you a bit?"

"Easy", Fay answered, "you are a predator and I am prey!"

Judy sighed, "Oh god, what do you mean by that again?"

Fay looked surprised, "You haven't figured that piece out? How did you sneak through police academy being dumb like that?"

"Would you please stop insulting me and explain?"

"Really, when you fell in love with a pred, I thought it must be obvious that you're a predator born into the body of a meek little bunny… all the years in school, the bloody noses, ripped clothes, all the adventures, picking fights with the meanest preds in class… wanting to become a cop… going to police academy… they would have kicked out a little bunny like you, but no, you were top of the class… now you do what they all do… you hunt and kill. What did you feel when you shot that panther in the head?"

Judy gasped, "Fay, I was worried sick, Nick was hurt and I…"

"Liar!" Fay hissed, "I heard you talking to mom on the phone… I am blind so I am quite good in picking up emotions from what I hear… when you told her that you made sure he is rotting in hell right now, I never heard more satisfaction… oh, yeah, you were worried about Nick, I believe you, because you really do love him as all preds love other preds… but you really _liked_ it when you saw this panther's head explode, I know you are dreaming about it and I know there is a wet patch in your pants when you wake up…"

"Oh, really, Fay, this is so stupid I won't even dignify it with an answer. I won't change your mind anyway!"

For some time, they sat next to each other, not speaking a word. Then, Judy said, "I still don't get it. Why do you scare Nick by telling him about his dreams? Do you really want to help him? You have no insight into him at all, you're just making clever guesses, I know that. He is scared. And traumatized. Hell, anyone would be. So, what do you want to prove with your scary stories? Do you really like showing off so much?"

"Showing off? You think I just want to show off?", Fay said angrily.

"To be honest, yes, I do! I know, dad thinks there's something about all this, you know, when you warned us about the storm during the harvest, but I just think you make good guesses and when they are right, everyone is impressed and when they are not, well, they simply forget about it…"

"Oh, yeah? So when _was_ I wrong, tell me!", Fay hissed and Judy was sorry that she started it.

"Oh, well… okay, I can't remember one at the moment…"

"Oh, you can't! Tell me, do you think I like it?"

"What?"

"To know all these things?"

Judy took a deep breath, "Yes, I think you like it. You have always… hey, ouch!"

Fay had started to hammer on her with both fists and even though she was so small and light weighted, Judy needed both arms to fend her off.

"YOU ARE SO DUMB! How would you feel if you knew all about those you really care about? If you'd know when they die? And how?" She stopped beating Judy and her face turned into a vicious smile, "Should I tell you? The day you die? The hour, the minute, the second? The circumstances? Hell, I could tell you what you're wearing… It all starts when you get that…"

"NO!", yelled Judy, "Stop it! I don't want to know!"

"And neither want I, but I do, so I'll share with you, sis'… ohhhh, do you want to know who dies first? Nick or you? Are you standing at his grave or he at yours?"

Judy had pressed both her paws on her ears, sobbing, "No, don't do it, please, I beg you, I'm sorry, I take it back, please, I can't live with that…" Fay cried, too, then they embraced.

It took them the best part of the next hour until they finally stopped crying. Judy stroked her sister's head. "I am so sorry… if this is true… you really know… how can you take it?"

"I can't. That's why I stay in my room most of the time. I see things but I can't do anything about them… do you remember Mr Richards?"

"The old badger who used to live in that crazy house downtown? Sure. Didn't he die while tampering with electricity in his house?"

Fay nodded, "Yes. And I knew he would. And when I overheard him talking to dad about installing air conditioning in his house… I couldn't just sit and be quiet. I walked over to his house, alone. He was very kind and listened to what I told him. I think he believed me, he promised not to do it himself, he called a company and let them install it. I was relieved. But only one week later, it didn't work. The cable was broken. And when he checked the cable he grabbed right onto the broken line. So, maybe, if I hadn't talked to him, maybe he would still be alive…"

"But… when you knew about the storm, you told us, and you changed things… we got in the crops in time…"

"Yes, but I haven't seen anything about the crops, I just saw the storm and all the fields under water. I haven't changed anything from the things I saw", Fay said.

Suddenly, they heard Bonnie's voice, "Judy! Fay! Lunch is ready!"

"Coming!", they both yelled back.

When they came down into the kitchen, Bonnie shook her head, "Well, ladies, I don't know what kind of ruckus you made up there, but I hope that… my god, Fay, what happened to your nose?"

Fay shrugged, "I smacked into the bathroom door. Stupid, really. I closed it and forgot about it. Then I ran full tilt into it. Good thing, Judy was there to patch me up. But I ruined my best summer dress. It's full of blood!" – "Jeez, Judy, you should have called me!", Bonnie reprimanded her daughter, "Nick has gone with your dad. He needed some items from Jeremy and they won't be back for the next hour, so it's just us three. Hey, Fay, what's this white stuff to the right of your mouth? The other right, dear!"

Judy froze in shock when Fay picked a small lump of fox cum out of her fur, "That? Oh, that's toothpaste. I had my mouth full of blood, so I brushed my teeth…" She turned her head to Judy with her evil smile again and licked it off her finger. "Hmmmm, tastes so good… you should get some of that stuff, too, sis'… ouch!"

"Oh, sorry!", piped Judy, "Was that your foot?"

Bonnie hit her fist on the table, "Stop it, both of you! Or I'll cancel dessert!"

"But, moooom… she started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did, too!"

"Did not!"

Bonnie sighed and turned away to get the broccoli casserole out of the oven. _Small kids, small sorrows, big kids…_


	28. Chapter 28 - The Award

**Chapter 28 – The Award**

Nick was glad when Stu asked him to come along on some errands. When they returned at late afternoon, new excitement had spread through the Hopps's farm as an official letter had arrived. It came from the Zootopia city council and invited the family to an award ceremony for a Gold Service Medal in Gold, First Class next Monday. Included was a one night stay at the famous Oasis Hotel. Kitty had called Judy to inform her that she could bring a maximum of ten family members, and that Nick's father had been invited as well.

During the heated family discussion to determine the eight chosen members to accompany Bonnie and Stu on that trip, Nick and Judy sneaked out so Judy could inform him of what had happened. Nick was scandalized.

"Are you serious!? You punched her? In the face?", he said.

"Haven't you listened? She provoked me! She knew exactly what she did. She can't just play people like instruments… and she threatened me!" Judy replied.

"Hah, threatened you? That little, innocent, blind girl…"

"Innocent!? You must be joking, after she sneaked in our bed and…"

"You know what I mean!"

"And you don't! She said horrible things, she wanted to tell me when I die, when _you_ die…"

"Do you believe she can?", asked Nick.

"Hell, I don't know. Maybe. But if you heard her… it was so spooky… I just…"

"You just lost control", Nick summarized.

"Yeah, maybe. However, I've decided we'll go back to Zootopia on Tuesday", Judy said.

"Day after tomorrow? Why so early?", Nick wanted to know.

"Early? We have a new apartment, we'll have to start work, there's a wedding in the making… and, to be honest, I want to spent some days with you… alone."

"No objections there", Nick smiled, "Maybe you're right. It's just… I like this place. I've never been on a farm before, I mean… I could never give up my city life, but it's really great out here…"

Judy just smiled. How strange must this be for this fox who never had a family life after the age of twelve. How often Judy had wished to just be alone, how happy she had been when she had gotten her own room.

This night, the dream returned, but this time, Nick was prepared. It was so easy – happy thoughts. Concentrating. The black figure vanished as soon as Nick started to think about the life he would live with Judy by his side. Everything vanished, the scenery, the cars, the criminals, the guns, the violence, the blood – even the pain. Until there was nothing. Void. A black empty canvas. And then – the light. This time, he did not flee, he looked inside it, even his eyes were hurting. And then…

Nick sat up in bed and Judy awoke.

"That dream again?", she asked and checked the clock: 4:09 am.

He looked at her and this time she could tell it was different; he looked happy, his eyes were wide with surprise.

"It's Her – now I get it! Fay was right from the start!" He got up, "I need to talk to her!"

"Who? Fay? At this time?", Judy said concerned.

But Nick had already left the room. She heard him knock next door. The answer came immediately, as if her sister had been waiting behind the door – well, she probably had. When Judy overheard them walking down the stairs she wanted to follow them, but decided against it. She trusted Nick. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

They sat down on the little bench on the porch. This time, Fay did not touch Nick, she sat down one foot away. Nick told her about the dream and what he had seen at the end.

"Now I understood what you meant. She is… nothing I'd ever seen. I am not even sure if She's an animal. I mean… she is, but on the other hand…"

Fay giggled, "Don't think too hard about it, you won't figure it out. Just accept Her as She is. It's much easier this way."

Nick looked at her swollen nose. "Judy shouldn't have done this", he just said.

"Yes, she should. I was stupid. I provoked her to hit me, because that's what she needed and I needed a punishment. What I did that night was so wrong. I had a thousand ways to show you how to get past your nightmares."

"So why did you do that in the first place?", Nick wanted to know.

"Oh, I don't know… as I said, I am stupid. I wanted to prove something to myself, you know… being afraid of foxes all my life… dumb, isn't it? The future husband of my sister… the person I love more than my life, she has been there for me as long as I can remember… deep in her heart she won't forgive me. I wouldn't", Fay sighed, "Leave me alone. Go back to bed. These dreams won't come back, I promise."

Nick didn't know what to say, so he just got up and left without a word.

Kitty waited for them at Savannah Central Station when Judy and Nick arrived with the 12.30 train. She had brought over Nick's car and handed off the keys after all the kisses and hugs were exchanged.

"Man, you really look good, no comparison to that mangy fox in a wheelchair I saw ten days ago!", Kitty said to Nick, "A bit thin, but still, but Benji's donuts and lots of fast food will help with that in no time! And you, Judy", she turned around, "I bet you worked on those tame collar files the whole time and have made more progress than the entire ZPD in the last years… true?"

Judy gave a false smile and squeezed "Not really…", through her teeth. When packing, she had noticed that she hadn't even unpacked the files from her backpack.

"Always humble…", Kitty grinned, "Oh, talking of humble, I also have the key card for your new apartment. Here… it opens the main gate to the garage, there is a reserved area just for you guys… from there you'll take the private elevator directly to your cozy nest… don't get lost in there! Judy, I'll see you on Friday, 3 pm, don't forget! I'm so excited!"

Judy looked puzzled, "Why… I mean, what will happen on Friday?"

Kitty giggled, "Already so excited you'd forgotten your schedule? Friday, 3 pm, at Square Garden… does that ring a bell?" When Judy shook her head, Kitty started jumping up and down, "Wedding rehearsal! Oh, my first time as a bridesmaid! So cool! Wait til you see our dresses!" She checked her watch, "Shit, have to run… I'm really working my sexy butt off these days… Bogo is planning on so many changes… see ya, guys!"

And off she went. Judy sighed, "I'll have to talk to Fru-Fru about her communication skills…"

They drove to the Motosuma Building, their new home. The giant skyscraper looked impressive from the street, 265 stories high, even though some ninety were for small animals like mice and gerbils, so they were only two feet high. They used their code card to drive in the garage and Nick just had to drive straight ahead to the end where two big parking lots were reserved with brand new signs reading "Mr and Mrs Wilde".

Nick grinned, "There's no turning back now!"

"I don't want to", replied Judy, "I am actually looking forward to become 'Wilde'. The name Hopps for a bunny… so cliché… Judy Wilde… Judy Wilde!", she said louder, "Yes, I definetely like this!"

The elevator brought them directly to their new apartment. As soon as the doors opened, both could just look out and stare open mouthed at all the luxury. Fru-Fru had brought their personal belongings in here, but these few items nearly vanished under tons of new furniture and other stuff. After only two minutes the phone rang.

"Bonjour, this is Jerome speaking. Welcome to Motosuma building! I am your personal assistant, you can call me for anything you need! Just dial the 6." A soft, friendly but very fast voice with a french accent explained, "I just saw that your personal elevator was moving, so I knew you arrived… if you have five minutes for me I would like to come up and explain everything!"

Nick looked at Judy, she just shrugged, so Nick invited him up. Just some seconds later, a melodious bell chimed. Automatically, a small TV screen activated and showed what looked like the inside of the elevator. Nick saw a weasel-like creature standing inside who nodded politely towards the camera. Next to the screen was a green button, blinking. Nick pressed it and the door opened.

Jerome was not a weasel, but a chinchilla, relatively tall for one of his kind, about the same size as Judy with ears down. He had a nice french accent but was talking very fast and soon Nick's and Judy's heads were swirling. They could nearly do everything without leaving the building; shopping, cinema, all kind of events and sports, they even had a private pool two floors down from their apartment.

"Technically, the four penthouse apartments have to share that pool", Jerome informed them, "but as you two live in one _and_ two (maybe you've heard that your apartment was originally divided) and number three and four on the 264th floor are still vacant, you have it for yourself, until further notice. You can reach me 24-7, just dial the 6 – I think, I've already said that!"

In the end, he handed them a large folder full of details about the building and left them speechless.

The five free days they had until work would start again were full of appointments regarding the wedding. Friday night, the Oryx-Antlersons dropped by, meeting Nick for the first time. It was a funny and loud evening.

"Thank goodness, we don't have neighbours!", Judy said and Bucky replied, "Yeah, especially not neighbours like us!"

They emptied three bottles of that ominous self-made "Bum-Bum". Thanks to that, Judy and Nick woke up after noon on Saturday with a couple of really bad headaches but some rounds in the spacious pool cured that.

On Sunday evening, they visited Bonnie and Stu and some of Judy's siblings in the Grand Oasis Hotel. They all were excited about the award ceremony the next morning.

When Judy and Nick went to bed that night, Judy let out a sigh.

"This all goes so fast!", she said.

"What?", Nick replied.

"Everything! The wedding, the new apartment, the last days… I have the feeling we are living on fast forward right now. The next week is packed with appointments, we have to work and there is the tame collar case… you got shot one month ago… it's gone so fast!"

"I'm quite glad this painful time had passed so quickly!"

"You know what I meant, Nick! Doesn't it feel the same for you?"

"Yeah, maybe, but more on the long range. One year ago, I hadn't even met you, now, in one week you'll be my wife… it's hard for me to believe. I had my life as a con artist then, and I thought it would go on forever. And now… I'm a cop, for crying out loud! My whole life is upside down. In a good way, of course, but still…", he paused for some seconds, "If someone had told me one year ago what would happen, I wouldn't have believed a word. And if I had, I'd probably had tried to prevent it, as it would have sounded so strange for that past version of me."

He noticed Judy's breath slowing down and kissed her between her long ears.

"Good night, honey bunny!"

"Good night, dumb fox!"

Nick stood in front of the brand new mirror in their brand new bedroom in their brand new apartment and inhaled deeply to close the topmost button of his gala uniform shirt. One month… exactly one month ago, the bullet of that crazy panther has ripped the lower half of his torso apart and he knew how lucke he had been to survive. Strange things had happened, in his dreams as well as in the real world. At least, the nightmares were gone for good. He needed three attempts until the knot of his blue tie satisfied him. He attached his new badge (the old one had been damaged) and his name tag, rubbing both with the fur of his paw. He put his medals on his chest, he only had three so this didn't take a lot of time.

When he admired himself in the mirror, Judy came out of the bathroom, that was big enough to play baseball in, naked, her fur still steaming.

"My goodness, Nick, what did you do to your tie? You made it look like a noose, they're not going to hang you today, you know… come here, you dumb fox!"

She jumped on the bed and arranged his tie properly. "There… now you look descent…"

"You do, too!", Nick whispered in her ear, but when he tried to grab her, she hopped from the bed, laughing.

"Oh, no, no time for this! I have no idea how long we'll need to get to the ZPD from here, I don't want to be late! We'll depart in five minutes!"

And indeed, she managed to be dressed and ready in that time, looking smug in her gala uniform, her seven medals gleaming in the early morning sunlight that was shining through the enormous windows.

They zoomed down in their private elevator and drove to the ZPD arriving ten minutes early. It was a bit strange for Nick to be here after such a long time. So many things had happened… Most cops were in gala uniform as they would attend the ceremony. He was greeted with a lot of cheers and his shoulders quickly started to hurt from being patted by so many larger animals. Kitty, who looked gorgeous in her gala uniform even kissed him and when Judy made a snippy remark about it, Kitty just grinned.

"Better get used to it, I am the bridesmaid, so I am the first one to smooch him after you've finished your vows!"

That caused more laughter which quickly died off when Chief Bogo entered the room. He looked like he felt uncomfortable in his gala uniform. Nick had to bite his tongue in order to not make a funny remark, as his uniform was obviously from earlier days and would most probably burst when the mighty water buffalo inhaled deeply.

"Okay, gang, thanks to our two heroes here we'll not get a lot of work done today. Ceremony starts at 0900 and after that we have a small party til lunchtime, drinks (no alcohol, of course) and some snacks provided… this was not my idea, especially not as our budget is so low anyway, but my personal assistant…", he looked grumpily in Kitty's direction, "said it would be necessary for the moral and integrity, yakkedy-yak, and so on. I want everybody to behave, no obsessive cheering or other embarrassing things, remember, the entire chain of command up to our mayor is present. And for you two…", he took a long look at Judy and Nick, then he sighed: "Welcome back. And… congratulations! Dismissed!"

As they had more than two hours until the ceremony would start, Nick and Judy retreated to their small office. Judy sighed as she saw a stack of folders piled on her desk. But she had requested for all of this herself, she wanted to read every case file in any way remotely related to the tame collar story. While she tried to sort them, Nick was busy typing on the computer.

"What are you doing? Don't tell me you're surfing on the internet", she asked him.

"Nah, nothing… it's a surprise for you, Carrots!"

She was so busy she nearly missed the time. In the large backyard of the ZPD the usual stage and seats had been arranged. A female tiger officer showed them where to stand, she obviously was quite nervous.

"Okay, you two will definetely not move until I tell you. When you see my sign, you'll march onto the podests, the large one is for the bunny, the smaller one for the fox, got that? You will stand still, wait 'til the mayor puts the things on your chest. He will thank you, and _then_ and only _then_ , will you salute him! Don't mess it up, okay? Strictly according to protocol, never forget that!"

She marched away and Nick said, "Man, no more coffee for her…", which earned him a long "Shhhh!" from her. The tigress had obviously good ears.

At 8:55 Kitty came along. She seemed nervous, too.

"I just came from a briefing. Commissioner Johansson forbid Chief Bogo to mention the fact that you are going to get married next weekend. Judy, I think you know Johansson, don't you?"

Judy remembered that pesky jaguar who asked all that questions about her relationship with Nick in her hearing after the shooting. "Oh, yeah!"

"Johansson even wanted to honor you two separately as he thinks, showing you two close together is against nature. That's why he gave you _two_ awards in the first place. Normally, you would have gotten one award as a team and would have to split the money", Kitty explained.

"Heck, I thought that old guy just wanted to be generous once in his life!", Nick said sarcastically.

"I don't think so!" Kitty said, "However, Bogo and the mayor convinced him to honor you two together. I thought, you should know that."

Just then, music started to play and Kitty rushed away. The ceremony had started. Behind the curtains, Nick and Judy listened to the short and heartless introduction of Commissioner Johansson and thereafter the happy, elongated speech by Mayor Lionheart. Finally, the frantic tigress gave the command and Judy hissed, "Left, right, left…" until they were in sync. She had to concentrate hard as she was not allowed to hop but needed to _walk_ and she had to do long strides to stay in sync with the much larger fox next to her. A second before they walked into the open, she felt something touched her paw. Nick! He was holding her paw!

"Nick!", she hissed, but one more step and they were in plain view of everyone. Nick did not let go. Judy started to sweat. They stepped up onto the two podiums and the music stopped. She tried not to look at the mayor or at Bogo, instead she saw her family in the audience. Between Bonnie and Stu sat Nick's father who smiled happily. Her parents gave a thumbs up, her siblings waved and someone wolf-whistled.

 _This is not good…_ she thought, _we are standing here holding paws like a high school couple…_

Then, Bogo, Lionheart and Johansson stood in front of them. The mayor smiled at them, this was what he needed for his liberal campaign. Bogo looked like always, but Johansson was so full of anger that Judy thought his face would explode any second.

"Stop that!", he hissed, "Let go of her paw, officer Wilde!"

Judy felt even more pressure when Nick answered, "With all due respect, sir, but I can't. And I won't. No matter what happens, I'll hold on to her, for the rest of my life!"

Judy's eyes started to blur with tears and she had to blink them away. The mayor chuckled, "Officer Wilde, isn't that your line for next Saturday?" He shrugged, then turned to the fuming jaguar, "Ah, Sven, young love… let's just proceed, shall we? Officer MacMahon!"

Kitty stepped forward, carrying a blue velvet cushion with two large golden medals on it. The jaguar stepped aside and Bogo and Lionheart took a medal each and pinned them on Nick's and Judy's chest.

"Sorry…", Bogo whispered as he had some difficulty attaching the medal and therefore had to touch Judy's breast a little bit longer than appropriate. Judy heard Kitty giggle.

When they were finished, they stepped aside and Johansson appeared and saluted. Judy had no problems answering his salute, but Nick would now have to let go of her left paw, so he could salute with his right one. She lifted her arm, but nothing happened. From the corner of her eye she saw Nick saluting… with his left arm! The mayor turned to the audience and raised both his mighty paws and Kitty yelled, "Three cheers for our heroes! Hip, hip…"

"HOORAY!", shouted everyone.

After the third salute, Bogo finally shouted "At ease!" and now their colleagues and families stormed the stage to congratulate them. When Judy looked over to Bogo, he shook his head in disbelieve… but was that a smile on his face as well? Before she could find out, her father grabbed and hugged her, his eyes full of tears.


	29. Chapter 29 - Wedding with Surprises

**Chapter 29 – Wedding with Surprises**

Before they knew, the day of the wedding had come. Zootopia was used to big partys, but this was a new dimension. If Fru-Fru had planned to use the wedding as a commercial for her new wedding planning business, then she had succeeded big time. As Nick was not allowed to see Judy in her dress before the ceremony, he had spent the night at the Oasis Hotel together with his best man Gideon Grey.

They did not do anything spectacular, they sat at the bar and had a few drinks. Nick really liked Gideon a lot, even though he was so different from him. Gideon could not be called the typical fox, but how could he, being raised in a community so strongly dominated by prey. Nick had noticed that most animals in Bunny Burrows thought of Gideon as a little dim-witted, but Nick found out, that Gideon could be quite smart in his own way. Opening a bakery that had specialized on products using ressources from farmers in his neighbourhood had been rather clever and successful. Gideon even thought of expanding his business furthermore. Finding a mate had raised his self-esteem considerably, he was not stuttering anymore.

Nick never knew how much he missed a real friend, a friend you could trust a hundred percent. Finnick had never been this close to him, as soon as Nick had turned into a cop, Finnick had vanished. Nick felt a bit sorry about it, as he had really liked that small guy. As the following day would be quite long, they both decided to go to bed early.

Nine hours later, Nick stood in a wedding chapel inside the huge dome of Sahara Square Garden. He wore a white gala police uniform, tailor-made for this special day. Gideon next to him seemed to be more nervous than himself. Nick turned around to look at the crowded place, all the seats were packed. As Nick had not many friends and relatives and Judy had them in abundance, Fru-Fru had discarded the idea of seating bride family on one side and groom family on other side, so it was mixed. Nick waved his father who looked quite smug in a black tuxedo he had made himself. Peter waved back happily. Some 150 bunnies were spreading quite a lot of noise and excitement, even though Bonnie tried her best to hush them up every thirty seconds.

Mayor Lionheart had been in a crisis but thanks to Judy and Nick's unusual relationship, he had regained power and wanted to exploit this to the max. He had therefore insisted on holding the wedding himself, using a very old law from the foundation days of Zootopia. The archbishop had not been very happy about that and in the end they had agreed upon holding the ceremony together.

Finally, the wedding march started and the audience fell silent. When the huge door opened, Nick turned around slowly. Loud Oooohs and Aaaahs sounded from the entrance. The first thing Nick saw, was a tiny black dot on the long red carpet. This was the other Judy, Fru-Fru's daughter, named after her godmother, the minuscule shrew was throwing white petals and was running in order to keep pace with the much larger animals behind her. Stu and Judy followed. Stu looked like the proudest animal in whole Zootopia and he had all reason to be proud. Karl Otterfeld had really outdone himself with Judy's wedding dress. It shimmered in the light, radiating all colours of the rainbow and there were quite a lot of animals gawking wide-eyed at the bunny wearing it. And Nick was one of them. The dress showed her shoulders and accentuated her legs. She wore high heeled shoes, therefore she had to walk quite slowly. The dress was slitted up to her hips on both sides, so every step revealed her shimmering thighs. They had been careful with make-up on her face. A long veil extended a long distance behind her, in addition to her two bridesmaids, Kitty and Bren, six sisters of her carried it.

The ceremony started and Nick didn't get a single word. Even though he did not look at her directly, the mere presence of her consumed all of his senses. He seemed to have said the right words at the right moment as Judy kissed him and the crowd started to cheer. Everything happened as in trance. As usual, bride and groom themselves could not enjoy the celebrations as much as their guests. Games were played in abundance, most of them traditional bunny wedding games Nick had never heard of before. Most games ended with a kiss or with a dance. Fru-Fru darted from left to right always chasing her own tight schedule. Nick smiled when he remembered a scene from the wedding rehearsal two days before, when Kitty had asked, "These games all seem to be old bunny customs… are there no funny fox games you can play at weddings?"

Fru-Fru had sighed, "Actually, there are not many fox traditions… as foxes have been against matrimony until recently", she had explained, "Most fox couples live together without being married… even though, there _is_ a custom… but I am not sure if Judy or Karl would like it…"

"Well, you haven't asked me about it", Judy had said, "And what has Karl to do with this?"

"There is the coloring ceremony that takes place at midnight. You must know, white dresses are considered as bad luck for foxes, so when they accepted the idea of matrimony that most animal followed, they found a way to cope with that… at midnight, everyone will assemble around the bride and pour beet root juice over her dress!"

"WHAT?!", Kitty, Bren and Judy had shouted out loud, "What a mess!", Judy said, "Now I understand why Karl would not like it! And I won't like that, either! How could you do that?"

"Hey, don't look at me that way!", Nick had laughed, "I have never done that, in fact, I never heard about that before. My parents were married, but I doubt even dad knows about that funny custom!"

He was shaken out of his memories by none other then famous singer Gazelle who asked him for the next dance. He accepted, but it was a bit awkward to dance with such a popular animal. He didn't know what to say, but he was lucky as Gazelle talked the whole time, thanking him and Judy for being so courageous.

"Rick and me would never had the guts to pull such a stunt like you two!", she said with her cute accent.

"Well…", Nick started.

"And now I am dancing on a wedding of a fox and a bunny", Gazelle interrupted, "I can't believe it! Even more, Rick and me will marry next month, too! You will be invited, of course. I am so excited!"

Judy saw Nick dancing with Gazelle and wondered why Nick did not look so happy as she would have expected. She had sat down on the table with her colleagues and Clawhauser was looking to Nick full of envy. Bogo played with his empty glass.

"That is typical Wilde, pulling a stunt like that during the award ceremony… saluting with lis left paw! Really! The commissioner was so furious…", Bogo smiled, "but Mayor Lionheart was happy about it, every headline in the paper about you two brings him new sympathy as he supports you… and finally, you will be back at work, we really need to solve that mysterious tame collar thing!"

Judy looked to the side, "Well, sir, about that… actually I have not found out much in the past weeks… to be honest, I have no clue where to start, as the case is quite cold…"

Suddenly, Bren darted to her from behind, "Judy, Judy, I looked everywhere for you, you must come, now, the dance lottery is about to start!"

Bogo nodded, "Don't take it too serious, Hopps… I mean, Wilde… go, have fun, it's your wedding! I don't think, El Ahrairah will show up to steal your cake!"

Bren laughed out loud, "Oh, but he would like it a lot, pulling a stunt like that would be so typical…"

Every single cop in earshot had jumped up and all stared at the little bunny nurse in her beautiful dress, who blushed and get smaller and smaller.

"Did I say something…?"

"Do you know El Ahrairah?", Bogo said with a quiet but dangerous voice.

"Well.. yes, of course I do…", said Bren.

Twenty-nine seconds later, the cops had seized a small side room that was used to store the wedding presents. But no one looked at the pile of valuables, instead the entire attention of the eight cops, some wearing gala uniforms, some tuxedos, some pretty dresses, were on the timid bunny sitting on a chair much too big for her. Poor Bren wished she hadn't said anything. Bogo started the questioning.

"So, you know El Ahrairah?", he repeated.

"Yes, sure…", Bren replied hesitantly.

"Since when do you know him? It is a him, isn't it?"

"Yes, he's male, of course… I know him… let's see… I think since second grade in grammar school…"

"In school?", Judy said, "Is he a teacher in Bunny Burrows?"

Bren laughed, "No, but wait, do you think…"

"We are asking the questions here!", said Bogo, "But he is a bunny?"

"Well, of course he is!"

"I don't get it", said Nick, "All the profilers said he is a predator and… wait, did a bunny work on the tame… I mean, on the issue in question?"

"No, according to the files we have, not", answered Judy.

"What are you guys talking about?", asked Bren, "Judy, you must know him, too! Haven't you talked about him in class? My school was pretty small, sure, but I think they teach the same stuff everywhere!"

"In class?", Bogo was confused, "You mean… El Ahrairah was a subject? In school?"

"That's what I want to tell you guys all along! He is the hero of bunny folk lore!"

"Wait, you mean, he is not real?"

"Sure he is! For us bunnys… but he is not a real person, you know…" Bren tried hard to explain, but it was kind of difficult under such a pressure. "Okay, Nick, you know Robin Hood, do you?"

"Of course I do! Every fox knows him! And most other animals, too. There were quite a bunch of movies about him!"

"So, is he real?", asked Bren.

"That is disputed… he is a legend, some say he had lived in the dark ages, shortly after the animals became sentient, but there is no historic proof…"

"Okay, can someone fill me in?", interrupted Chief Bogo, "I have not seen a lot of movies and I don't know who that Robin Hood is!"

"Oh, chief, you should!", said Clawhauser excited, "He was a fox, the most cunning thief who ever lived! He fought the evil king's brother who had usurped the throne in absence of the real king, he had to hide in the forest with his gang…"

"A thief?", said Bogo disgusted, "How can a thief be a hero?"

"Oh, sir, he was not a common thief, the evil prince took everything from the poor citizens, and Robin stole from the rich and gave it to the poor. With his help, the real king could be reinstated! Then, the thankful king pardoned him!"

"So, El Ahrairah was a thief, too?", Bogo asked.

"No, at least not like Robin Hood… there are stories about him stealing lettuce, but he was more a trickster than a thief", explained Bren, "And as a chief of bunnies he did all for the wellbeing of his people!"

"Okay, okay!", said Judy, "We must conclude, as El Ahrairah is not a real person, our mysterious source is using this name, so he must have a certain knowledge of old bunny lore. But why choose the name of a mythological bunny?"

"That's easy!", Bren smiled, "Obviously he thinks, he has a lot of enemies!"

Again, all cops stared at her disbelieving. Bogo said, "Yes, you could say that… but how did you know?"

Bren took a deep breath and started citing like she stood in front of a class, "In the old times, before Zootopia, when preds were hunting prey, bunnies were hunted by so many other species, weasels, foxes, stoats, badgers… that the chief of the bunnies was called the Prince With Thousand Enemies. Well, in old Lapine, 'enemies' means 'elil'. In Lapine, we only have words for the numbers from one to four, all higher numbers are called 'hrair', this could mean everything from five to thousand or even more. And the suffix '-rah' is used to show that a bunny is of high rank – like a prince or a chief. So, his name in Lapine is 'Elil-Hrair-Rah'. This has blended to 'El Ahrairah' over the centuries. Really, is there no one in ZPD who speaks Lapine? It's a pity this cool language is no longer taught at bunny schools, even in Bunny Burrows you could just chose it as an optional after class course…"

Bogo sighed, "I should talk to the education board"

Everyone laughed. Except for Nick, "She is right, you know. Maybe we could have saved years of investigation if this tiny fact had been known earlier."

Before Bogo could make a remark, the door opened and a huge polar bear entered. On his palm stood Fru-Fru.

"What are you doing? Everyone is waiting for the dance lottery! We are thirty-five minutes behind schedule!"

Obediently, the marched out of the room. Bogo put his large hoof on Bren's shoulder. "You know, whenever you get tired of being a nurse, you should consider a career at ZPD. Your mind works the right way!"


	30. Chapter 30 - The End of El Ahrairah

**Chapter 30 – El Ahrairah**

Fru-Fru now proudly announced the next event of the wedding party, the dance lottery, where every male had to draw a female's name out of a big glass bowl.

"No rules!", she announced, "Every pair has to dance, no matter what size or species, pred or prey!"

Nick had to start, he drew the mother of Hideki Motosuwa, the owner of the skyscraper Nick and Judy lived in now. She was nearly 90 years old, obese, quite deaf and a rhino. When she started dancing, it measured on the Richter scale. Nick tried his best not to get trampled.

"Hey, you smell like a fox!", she yelled and looked through her enormous glasses, "Do you know the groom?"

It was great fun for the audience, but hard work for Nick. Some other pairs were also quite funny, Mayor Lionheart got Judy and carried her around, his face coming very close to her's.

"You never fail to impress me", he growled in her ear, "I would like to have you working close to me…"

Judy tried a smile, "Even though I arrested you once and nearly ended your career?"

"Ah, that's forgotten… I never was more popular, thanks to you and Nick. I give you my card, this one is for special friends only… it has my private cell phone number, feel free to call me every time you need my help!"

"That's very kind of you, sir!"

"Oh, please, call me Lionel!"

He wanted to say more, but suddenly the guests broke into laughter. Benjamin Clawhauser had just drawn Gazelle. He wasn't able to talk or look at her face, but as soon as they hit the dance floor, the chubby cheetah started a dance performance that amazed everyone.

"Wow", Gazelle purred, "You are one hot dancer, Benjamin Clawhauser!"

"Oh, you already said that to me…", Benji finally had found his tongue, "In that app!"

"App?", Gzelle asked confused, "What app?"

"Oh, forget about it… your voice sounds so much better then via phone speakers!"

"Well, thanks. Really, you could join my dance squad with skills like that… that is, if you could lose some weight…"

Benji giggled, "Yeah, I hear that a lot…"

While everyone stared on that unlikely pair, Chief Bogo quickly drew out a slip of paper to get it over with. He froze. When he said nothing, Fru-Fru, who stood on top of the glass bowl, snatched the paper out of his hooves and read "Kitty MacMahon!"

Stiffly, Bogo bowed in front of Kitty who blushed. Officer Wolfowitz let out a loud howl but when Bogo turned around and whispered "One more sound and you'll be cleaning out the elephant's restrooms on the highways for the rest of your life!" he quickly shut up.

Judy noticed that Kitty didn't dare to look at Bogo. When the music stopped, Judy and the mayor happened to be right next to Bogo and Kitty. Judy thought they would left the dance floor before the next song started, as Bogo looked up and Kitty looked down on the floor, but she overheard Bogo clearing his throat.

"Would you… I mean, should we… you want to… shall we continue?"

"I would like that…", Kitty said without looking up.

It was nearly 7 am when the last guests left (some had to be carried out) and Nick and Judy could retreat into the honeymoon suite of the hotel. As usual, what happened in that room is nobody's business.

As Judy has already used up all vacation days, there was no real honeymoon for them, but the next weeks were quite an adventure as they started living their new life in their new apartment. They spent about half their working time at the ZPD in their small office, reading and re-reading every single sheet in the tame collar files, but to no avail. They checked all the emails from El Ahrairah again and again trying to match the information given with the knowledge they got from Bren. They not only purchased every book about that old bunny tales hero, they even attended language courses at the Zootopia University to learn Lapine and Vulpine. Judy learned the old fox language, Nick attended Lapine classes and at home they were teaching each other what they had learned.

When they patrolled the streets together, they tried to communicate one day in Lapine, next day in Vulpine only. This way, they got better and better, even though Judy complained that the fox language was much more difficult.

"The pronounciation!", she sighed once, "Why did you ancestors talked like they had a sore throat? And what do you need eight grammatical cases for? That's so unfair! Lapine is much easier."

"We're both learning both, so don't complain!", said Nick, "I am the one who learns the more complicated language from an incompetent teacher…"

Judy answered with a collection of Vulpine swear words. Even though they didn't get more insight on the mysterious case of El Ahrairah, the language skills did come in handy at some times.

When Nick stopped a pick-up truck to tell the old bunny at the wheel that his lights were not working, his license plate was not valid anymore and his tires were run down, the old guy grinned at him with several missing teeth and said "Silflay hraka, u embleer homba!" (Eat shit, you stinking fox).

Nick's paw grabbed him by the collar and pulled him half out of the window. "I wanted to be nice and just remind you to repair that piece of shit you call a car. But I am not stinking and I have decent meals, so, let's say, thirty bucks for the license plate, twenty for the lights and fifty for insulting a ZPD officer, that's a round hundred… the tires are for free. Do you agree?"

"Yes… certainly…", the bunny winced, "But… how did you understand me?"

"We foxes are cleverer than you think…" said Nick and wished him well in fluent Lapine.

When Nick got back to Judy, he said "Man, that look on his face was worth all the language lessons!"

Around two months after their wedding, fall had kicked in over the city of Zootopia. As soon as you were outside the range of the heaters of Savannah District and Sahara Square, the cold and wet air brought rain and chilling winds.

This night, Judy and Nick were on patrol in downtown Zootopia. They were changing from night to day shift and back since two weeks as many officers were on sick leave. Nick was driving, Judy had fallen asleep, when she was woken by the radio.

"We have a ten-forty-nine at 6770 Jasmine Drive", said the female voice of the dispatcher.

"Ten-forty-nine?", asked Nick

"Suspicious activity in the neighborhood", said Judy, "Really, you should have all these codes by heart by now. It's five minutes from here. Let's take it!"

Before Nick could answer, she told dispatch that they would drive over. She turned on the lights, they did not need the sirens as the streets were empty at 2 am.

"Jasmine Drive…", said Nick, "that's a nice street, rich dinky couples, some families…"

"Dinky?"

"Double Income, No Kids Yet - DINKY!", grinned Nick.

"Like us!", said Judy.

The street was lined by nice medium sized houses, surrounded by beautiful yards. In front of 6770 stood a female sheep wearing a bath robe and slippers. Judy opened the window but remained seated so she could talk to the sheep without looking up.

"Hi, I'm officer Judy Wilde, ZPD. You have called?"

"Yes", said the sheep, "My name is Janice Woolbarger. I've heard strange things from the house over there", she pointed to the house on the other side of the street, "I think it sounded like gunshots!"

"Gunshots?", Judy suddenly got tensed, "Are you sure?"

"No… not really… I never heard gunfire before… I mean, except on TV, of course…"

Judy looked at the house. It was nice with a neatly trimmed lawn and garden. "Do you know the people living there?", she asked.

"The Lapsas, a couple… no, I don't know them to well… he works in his garden a lot and I say 'hi' whenever I see him and we talk about the weather… but not more."

Nick had gotten out of the car.

"Well, Mrs Woolbarger, we'll take care. Please go back in your house, just in case…"

She nodded and hurried back. Nick and Judy walked across the front yard.

"They're predators", Nick said.

"Who?"

"That Lapsa couple… the way the sheep talked about them… typical. This is a prey area, wealthy guys, then a pred couple moves in, they're wealthy, too, of course, you must be wealthy to afford a place like this. And bang, there goes the neighborhood. They say hello, but no more. No garden partys, no welcome cake… gunshots, pah… probably a car backfired…"

Judy said nothing as Nick was probably right, but she didn't like it when he got cynical like this. Instead she looked at the garden.

"Wow, look at these beautiful hydrangea…"

"Shhht!", made Nick and pointed to the front door. The wooden frame was splintered and the door lock was dangling down. Someone must have kicked the door pretty hard. Both cops drew out their guns. Whoever had kicked that door might still be inside. The front door led into a corridor and Nick opened the first door on the left side. A small bathroom. He nodded to Judy.

"Clear!", he whispered.

Jody opened the next door to the right and checked the kitchen. Old-fashioned furniture but hyper-modern appliances.

"Clear!", she said.

She remained back as Nick moved to the next door on the right side. He opened it and a second later Judy knew their was something wrong. Nick pulled back his upper lip and bared his teeth. His gun went down.

"Nick… what's wrong?"

His gun went back up. "Clear!", he said with a dark, sad voice. "Two bodies inside", he added.

Judy closed her eyes for a second. _Shit!_ She had seen corpses before but she never got used to it. When she opened her eyes, Nick had reached the end of the corridor and started to walk up the stairs in the second floor. She hurried after him and just took a short glimpse in the living room. A pair of legs on the floor. They went upstairs. Judy smelled wet paint. The first room was completely empty, just a can of paint on the floor and some brushes. Obviously, the Lapsas were in the middle of renovating. Next two rooms the same. The fourth room stood full of furniture, some disassembled, some not. In the corner stood a huge flat TV set covered with a sheet.

When they had finished the search and found no one, Nick pressed the button on his shoulder mike and reported the murder, requesting a CSI unit.

"Shouldn't we check if they are really dead, maybe…", said Judy but stopped when she saw the sad look on Nick's face shaking his head.

The walked down and Judy switched on the lights in the living room.

"Oh my godness…", she said.

Now she saw why Nick was shocked. On the sofa in front of the TV sat a fox. Someone had shot him in the head, the wall behind him was splattered with blood and other stuff. A vixen had sat next to him, she had been shot in the head, too. There was a second mess on the wall. But she seemed to have been fallen on the floor after she got shot. Now she was lying in front of the sofa, face down between her husband's feet.

"Do you think these are the Lapsas?", Judy asked.

Nick just nodded and pointed to the wall on the left. It was full of framed pictures of the two foxes. A wedding picture, she in a white dress, he in a black tuxedo. Another one showed the bride in a dripping wet and red dress, laughing. Judy remembered the beet root juice tradition, but this time it didn't seem funny as the bride laid on the floor behind her and the red juice was not beet root. The couple on a beach, another one arm in arm in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the next one showed them sitting on a Zodiac in full scuba gear, then Semper Opera, Eiffel Tower, the two of them in a large tent wearing lederhosen and dirndl, two large mugs of beer in their paws…

"They loved to travel…", said Judy sadly.

Nick squinted his eyes while looking at another photo, "Hey, Carrots, could you read this? On her lab coat?"

Judy came closer. The vixen on the pic held some kind of tool, he was sitting in front of an overlarge computer monitor, both wearing white lab coats emprinted with a logo and small text.

"No, but the crime lab at ZPD can enlarge it."

They looked up when a car stopped in front of the house. Fifteen seconds later a beaver in a white overall came through the front door, but before he crossed the threshold, he get out white plastic slippers and pulled them over his feet.

"Officer Wilde?", he called out.

"Yes!", replied Nick and Judy at the same time.

The beaver looked confused at their name tags. "What a coincidence…", he said, "… are you guys related?"

Obviously this guy didn't read the news a lot.

"Yeah, of course, she is my sister!", snorted Nick, but Judy could hear the bitterness in his voice, "Twins, to be exact. Only our mother can tell us apart!"

"Really?!", the beaver said open mouthed, "Well, I am Roderick Carver, ZCIS. We have a homicide here?"

"Two!", said Judy, "In the living room. We think, they are the owners of this place."

Carver looked at his tablet computer, "Mr and Mrs Horst and Britta Lapsa", he read, "Don't tell me you guys ran through the house without putting slippers on!"

"We didn't know they were dead when we arrived", explained Nick, "Neighbor called reporting noises, we thought someone broke in."

"Fuck, I bet you swept all foot prints away with those giant feet of yours", Carver said while pointing on Judy's feet, "Hey, I think I could tell you apart quite well… and you really are twins?"

"Hell, how did _you_ get to the police?", Judy asked.

"By bus", he replied, "every morning…"

Two more CSI cops entered the room, carrying a large trunk. They put it carefully down on the floor, then opened a small door on the trunk's side. Some forty mice and gerbils walked out, all dressed in white overalls and slippers.

"Okay!", said Carver, "two dead foxes in the living room. The twins here may have destroyed all traces on the floor but maybe we're lucky, so search carefully."

The rodents scurried over the floor, most of them carried small suitcases. Carver talked to the two guys who had carried the trunk.

"Jenkins, go find the coffee machine. Banner, there was a gas station some half mile away, get me some bagels and the morning paper!"

It was 4 am and three more patrol cars had arrived. Judy and Nick and six other cops had started asking around in the neighborhood, as all animals living in Jasmine Drive were gawking at the Lapsa's house anyway. Nick had been right. All the neighbors were prey, no one had had closer contact with the fox couple. Some even were plain hostile.

"I knew from the start they would cause trouble", Judy was told by a middle aged fawn, "you know, _foxes_ … they had some money, no one knows how they got rich enough to buy the Singer house… well, you know these foxes!"

"Yes, I know them", said Judy, _I am married to one_ , she wanted to add, but turned away instead.

She went back into the Lapsa house and sat down in the kitchen watching one of the CIS guys pouring coffee in some big and a lot of tiny cups.

"Want one?", he asked.

"Pass", said Judy.

Carver marched in, sighing while sitting down and grabbing his mug and his paper.

"Man, what a mess. We just packed the guy's brain in forty little plastic bags… oh, and we found a laptop under the sofa… it was still on, so maybe they hid it there when the murderer kicked the door."

Kitty entered the room. "Hi, Judy!", she said. She looked tired. "Hi, Lieutenant Carver, hi guys… could you tell me what had happened here?"

"Is Bogo not coming?", asked Judy.

"No, he is sound asleep…", said Kitty, then her eyes went wide, "I mean… I don't know… I _think_ he is asleep… it's 4 am… and I really don't know what he is doing right now… how should I know?"

Carver shook his head and shouted, "Hey, Jenkins, give the boss's assistant a short briefing, will you?"

Jenkins came in, carrying a tablet and a writing pad.

"Okay, we have two dead foxes, number one is a Horst Lapsa, 45, owner of this house, number two is his wife, Britta Lapsa, 41, married for four years. Both had a degree, he was a vet, she had a science degree… something biomechanical, whatever… they had worked as consultants for the city council until three years ago. According to the city council database, they are both listed as 'retired', isn't that strange?"

"Retired? At that age?", asked Kitty puzzled.

"Yeah, man, we got the wrong jobs, I tell you. Especially when you look at their bank account. Can you believe, according to their IRS file, they both made seven grand a month on pensions – each!"

Kitty shook her head, "This can't be true… not even a retired mayor gets 7,000…"

"It get's even better!", Jenkins continued, "No debts, no mortgage on the house, nothing… they paid for this hut in cold hard cash! I know what you're thinking, but we have no criminal record whatsoever, not even a parking ticket, nothing!"

Carver grunted, "Yeah, these foxes are cunning and clever, aren't they?"

"Unfortunately that's not true for beavers!", said Nick who had just entered the kitchen.

Carver frowned and Judy asked, "Found out anything?"

"Nothing, as usual", sighed Nick and rubbed his eyes, "Fifty animals standing around a crime scene but no one saw anything!"

A tiny mouse had run up the table and squeked, "I just have checked the book shelves. No hidden papers or personal stuff, just books, tons of it. Most science books, some light reading, bestsellers… and a couple of books written in some gibberish!"

"What do you mean, gibberish?", asked Judy.

"I don't know the language!", piped the mouse.

"Show me!", Nick said.

The mouse pressed her paws into her hips, "Hey, mister lazy fox, how 'bout heaving your ass over and look for them yourself? For you it's just four steps, for me a five minute sprint, so gimme a break, will ya?"

Nick frowned and walked over.

"Any suspects?", asked Kitty yawning.

"No, nothing. No relatives, life insurances will be happy as they had put each other as beneficiaries. We still need to talk to former colleagues. No traces in the house, no paw prints, no foot prints, thanks to Godzilla bunny and her brother who made sure to stampede through each room before calling us…"

"Carrots, you won't believe it!", shouted Nick and stormed the kitchen carrying five books.

Judy took the first one. "It's Vulpine!", she shouted, "Let's see… 'A history of foxes in the old world'… and here, 'Nearly forgotten fox traditions'…"

"So what?", said Carver, "Foxes speaking Vulpine do not seem so strange…"

"Yes, but foxes speaking Lapine sure are!", Nick grinned and put the fifth book on the table.

"A thousand most cunning tales of El Ahrairah!", she read and opened the first page, "In Lapine! Wow, it's printed nearly two hundred years ago!"

"Look at the next page!", Nick said.

"Handwriting… hard to read… 'U Vildro-narn'…", she started, but Nick already had scribbled down a translation on a slip of paper.

"'Beloved husband, best wishes for our first wedding anniversary', she wrote 'wedding' in english as this word does not exist in Lapine, 'As you are so crazy about this guy I hope you like reading his stories'!"

"So, both spoke Lapine?", Kitty asked.

"She had a least basic knowledge, there are some mistakes in that sentence here, but at least we know that he knew El Ahrairah…", said Nick.

"And he was a predator…", said Kitty.

"… who used to work for the city council…", added Judy.

"… and they payed him and his wife an awful lot of money after they retired them early!", concluded Nick.

"Hush!", Kitty said.

"You mean, they paid them hush money?", asked Judy.

"No, no, hush, silent everyone! Do you hear that?"

Everyone stopped moving and listened. There it was, a long wailing sound.

"What the fuck…", said Carver.

"Shhhht!"

There it was again, a sound that made Judy's fur stand up.

"It comes from above! Second floor!", yelled Nick and run towards the stairs.

"Haven't you searched the second floor?", asked Kitty.

"Of course we have, there was nothing!", said Judy following Nick.

When she arrived at the second floor, she saw Nick standing in front of the last room, the one packed with furniture. He had his gun out and just when he approached the door, the ear piercing sound came yet again, much louder this time. Nick jumped back nervously. He looked at Judy, then walked in the room.

"Nick, are you okay?", asked Judy anxiously.

"Oh my goodness…", she heard him say.

She walked slowly to the door and peeked around the corner. Nick stood in the room at what Judy had thought was a flat screen covered with a sheet. Now she saw, it was a cradle.

"Come here and look at this, will you?", he called her, "And put away the gun!"

Judy walked over and looked in the cradle.

"I don't believe it…", she said.

In the cradle were two little fox cubs. As she watched, one of them opened her mouth and started to wail, producing that sound that had frightened everyone.


	31. Chapter 31 - Fighting for Family

**Chapter 31 – Fighting for Family**

Kitty stared at Nick and Judy as they walked down the stairs as carefully as possible, both carrying something on their arms.

"A bomb?", she asked.

"Kind of", replied Nick, "At least, this one has a huge load in it's diapers, that's for sure!"

"Oh my god!", yelled Kitty when she saw the little face peeking out of the sheet Judy has wrapped it in, "It is sooooo cute! Judy, I didn't know! Well, I know bunnies have short pregnancies, but…"

"Don't pull my leg, Kitty, you really think I gave birth to two foxes?", said Judy.

"Boy or girl?"

"How should I know?"

"But when they're not yours… the Lapsas had no kids!"

Carver lifted up his paper, "They had… they just hadn't registered them yet!"

He pointed at an ad in the newspaper:

 _Now our luck is complete!_

 _A little bit of daddy, a little bit of mommy and a whole lot of miracle!_

 _Keira & Leia are here!_

 _Proud parents are:_

 _Horst & Britta Lapsa, 6780 Jasmine Drive, Zootopia_

The ad had weight, size and birth date and time printed under two little pictures.

"The day before yesterday!", Judy said, "No wonder they are not registered yet! What will happen with them now?"

"They can't stay here…", Kitty said. Silently, they watched as the two body bags were closed in the living room. "Bring them to the ZPD. I'll call DCF, but I doubt I'll reach someone at this hour."

Judy wondered what the Department for Children and Family could do for the two little cubs.

It was 7 am in the morning. Keira and Leia were fast asleep in Nick and Judy's office. Nick was with them while Judy informed Bogo about all they had found out.

"… and the IT department had already checked the laptop we found under the sofa. They found fragments of emails from El Ahrairah on it, sir", ended Judy.

"So, after years of searching you finally found El Ahrairah. I knew it was right to trust you!" Bogo smiled at her, but Judy shook her head.

"We found him, alright, but by pure coincidence… and too late. He took all secrets of the tame collars with him in his grave. We have no idea who the murderer was. Nothing was stolen, nothing searched. We found an unfinished email on the laptop", she took a sheet of paper and started to read, "'Game over', he wrote, 'They destroyed everything. There are no proofs left. I failed.' That's all, sir."

Bogo nodded sadly, "You and Nick, go home. We'll take care of everything. Finish the paperwork by tomorrow evening. Dismissed!"

"But sir, what will happen with the cubs?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot… DCF had sent us a Miss Kulumba from the orphanage… she is waiting in the big meeting room downstairs."

"The big meeting room?"

"Yes, she's a giraffe, she won't fit anywhere else." Bogo nodded and Judy walked downstairs.

Miss Kulumba was obviously not pleased after waiting.

"Finally!", she said when Judy entered the room. Judy disliked her on first sight.

"Sorry you've been waiting. My name is officer Judy Wilde, ZPD and…"

"Where are the cubs? I don't want to lose more time than I already had wasted sitting here. You know, I'll have the pleasure to drive them around town all day hoping to find an orphanage taking two fox cubs at a time!"

The thought of giving Keira and Leia to this unpleasant giraffe made Judy's fur stand up.

"What will happen with them, after you found a place?"

"What do you mean, 'happen'?"

"I mean, will you put them in a foster family or will they be adopted…"

The giraffe let out a strange noise that was supposed to be laughter.

"Oh, please, we're talking about _foxes_. Very unsocial animals… I work in child care for thirty years now, and I never had _foxes_ wanting to adopt someone. Everyone knows how difficult they are. They may be cute when they are small, hell, they all are, but, you know, they are _predators._ "

"I know…", Judy said, trying to control her temper.

"And vixens are even worse, as soon as they hit puberty… I could tell you stories that make your ears bleed. Believe me, some animals are simply born to be outcasts and criminals and foxes are top of the list. We'll take them, we'll feed them, we'll set them free when they are of age, but shortly after that they are either get killed or put in jail for good."

Judy's fists were clenched in rage. _Never,_ she told herself, _never will I give these two cuties in the hooves of this biased prejudiced monster!_

"Well", she said as calmly as possible, "What if I have someone, a fox, who would like to adopt them?"

"Impossible, Miss Wilde…"

" _Mrs_ Wilde!", Judy corrected.

The eyes of the giraffe went wide. "Ohhh…", she said slowly, "Could it be? I read about that strange marriage in the papers… so _you_ are that strange bunny that married a fox!"

"As a matter of fact, I am!"

"And you think you and your fox husband could adopt them?"

"Why not?"

"Well, _Mrs_ Wilde, I'll tell you why not. We don't give away cubs to the first best animal walking by, you know. We have certain standards. Adoption candidates must live in a stable marriage, have a decent home big enough and a fixed salary."

"Well, great, my husband and I are both police officers, we live in a huge penthouse and we are married!"

"By no standards a marriage between a fox and a bunny can be called stable, don't be ridiculous. I have no idea what made you take such a foolish step, I bet he tricked you into it for some shady reasons. Listen, I do not have time for such nonsense. Would you please bring me these cubs now? The earlier I have them, the earlier I can get rid of them!"

Judy's teeth gritted audibly and trembling with rage she turned around without another word and left the room.

She rushed through the corridors, other animals staring at her as she yelled, "That… dumb… cow! She don't know how lucky she is, that I didn't shoot that biased bitch! Unstable… hah!"

Two tiger cops in front of her tried to calm down an arrested motorcycle gang of some fifteen rhinos, all in cuffs, blocking the floor, shouting insults.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, OR I'LL KICK YOU FAT ASSES INTO OUTER SPACE!", yelled Judy.

Three seconds later all rhinos had pressed themselves against the wall staring silently at the tiny bunny rushing through their midst.

"I'll rip her long throat off!", Judy continued yelling.

"Wow", said one of the rhinos, "I'm glad we didn't got arrested by _her!_ "

One of the tiger cops grinned, "Yes, you better behave now, or I'll get her back and let her handle you!"

Nick had improvised a bed on his desk using a blanket. Leia was sleeping in there. They still had the little identifier bracelets from the hospital on, so he could tell who was who.

Keira was on his arms, her tiny paws had gripped the fur on his throat. He cradled her softly in his arms rubbing his nose against hers. The tiny fox cub let out a sigh and closed her bright blue eyes.

The door crashed open, both cubs stirred and Judy stormed in.

"Shhhhhh!", made Nick and gave her an angry look, "I just got them both to sleep!", he hissed.

"Sorry…", whispered Judy, "Nick, we will adopt these two cubs!"

"WHAT?!", yelled Nick and now Judy went "Shhhhh!"

"Why that all of a sudden?", he whispered, "They told me there is a lady from the orphanage waiting…"

"A lady? Pah!", said Judy, "She is a fucking bitch, and I swear by god, no one will give these two little darlings to that monster, except over my dead body!" She started rummaging in her desk drawers.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Everything. I'll explain later. Where have I put this fucking… ah, here it is!"

She pulled a card out of her drawer and got her cell phone out.

"Who do you call?", asked Nick.

"A dear old friend who told me I should call whenever I need his help… Hi, Lionel, it's me, Judy Wilde…"

Fifteen minutes later, Clawhauser stared open mouthed at the huge giraffe who stormed out of the ZPD, empty hooved, using swear words that made him blush. Suddenly he noticed Bogo standing next to him.

"What's wrong with her?", the cheetah asked.

"I think she just received a call from our beloved mayor!", grinned Bogo.

Judy raced through the supermarket while Nick took care of the sleeping cubs. She had already bought two special car seats and two large packs of diapers. She had guessed the size and hoped they would fit. Now she just needed milk and baby food.

As she turned around the corner in the aisle labelled "Baby products" she sighed. There seemed to be some two miles of shelves full of milk. She hopped along until she saw a sign reading 'C-Class Predators'. Unfortunately, there were some hundred different products. 'Pre-milk', 'H-milk', 'H+', 'Lactose-free', 'Anti-Allergic'…

"Damn, which one is the right one?" In the end, she picked 'Basic Carno-Newborn D+ with extra Fluoride', mainly because the box showed a photo of six cute pred babies including a fox cub. She walked on to the baby food.

"Tiger, sheep, bear, bunny, cheetah, squirrel, lion…", she searched the shelf twice, without finding fox food. She was glad when an assistant carrying two large boxes came by.

"Excuse me, could you tell me…"

"Bunnies, fourth shelf from the left!", the assistant interrupted.

"Sorry, but I need baby food for foxes!"

The assistant stopped and gawked at her, "What for?"

"Let's pretend for a second, I'm a fox, okay?", said Judy who started to run low on patience.

"Foxes, well… check around the corner in the 'Miscellaneous' section!", the assistant said before he shook his antlered head and vanished.

Indeed, there was one shelf carrying some boxes with exotic baby food. Armadillo, ant-eater, kangaroo… and there, on the lowest shelf, a small box showing a smiling vixen with a laughing cub. Judy had to blow dust off the box and checked the expiration date. Still good. She paid, tried to ignore the curious look from the cashier and hurried back to the ZPD. When she opened the door to her office, she found Nick sitting in there licking the face of one baby.

"Oh my god, Nick, what the hell are you doing there?"

"It's called bonding, Carrots. This way, fox cubs know who belongs to the family!", explained Nick.

"Stop licking her like one of your pawpsickles, there are bacteria on your tongue…"

"Oh, do you think about bacteria when I am licking _your_ face? Or other parts?"

"This is something completely different…"

"No, it's not. By the way, you forgot your phone. Your mom called!"

"What did she want?", asked Judy.

"No idea. She hung up when I said 'Congrats, grandma'!", smirked Nick.

"Great!", murmured Judy, "Hey, where do you go now?", she asked Nick as he stood up and handled the little cub over to her.

"We're still on duty, forgot? I just got called, there is a huge traffic accident in Meadowlands, Wolfowitz needs my help. Oh, and both diapers are full! Bye, love ya!"

"How convenient!", hissed Judy.

Judy had to hold her breath after she opened Keira's diaper.

"Carnivores…", she said, while wrapping the full diaper in a plastic bag. After she had cleaned both girls and opened the window to let in some fresh air, she sat down with little Leia on her arm. The fox cub looked at her with piercing blue eyes. Nervously, Judy looked around. Should she really do this? After a moment of hesitation, she lifted the cub's little face close to hers and sticked out her tongue. After licking once over the baby's cheek, she checked on the little one. The cub had totally relaxed and seemed to enjoy the treatment.

"Okay…", she said and went on. It was a strange feeling and a strange taste, too, but somehow satisfying. Little Leia had pressed her tiny paws against Judy's neck and rubbed her cute face against Judy's cheek.

"You're so adorable…", Judy sighed.

One hour later, Judy's opinion had slightly changed. Both girls were screaming their lungs out and Judy had no idea why. She had changed diapers, cradled them, sung lullabies, even licked them, but the mood of the twins had got from bad to worse. She even called her mother, tried to explain what happened and asked for advice.

"I have no idea, dear!", Bonnie had said.

"Heck, mom, you raised nearly three hundred kids, what did you do in such a situation?", screamed Judy.

"I breast-feeded them!", Bonnie had answered calmly.

"Great, how should I do it?"

"Hey, young lady, you asked, I answered, okay?"

She had tried to prepare the milk she bought. She had no bottle, so her coffee mug had to do. After she had stirred the milk and checked the temperature twice, she had poured the stuff in a rubber glove out of her first-aid kit and cut a tiny hole in one finger. The result had been a mess, the girls had spit out the few drops she had managed to get in their mouths and screamed even harder.

In her desperation, she locked the door, took off her body protector and her uniform blouse and put one girl to her breast. Even if no milk would come, maybe the sucking would calm them. But instead…

"Ouch! Fuck! Man, that hurt… shit, girl, what did you do… oh my…"

The little fox cub had bitten her nipple so hard, she was actually bleeding. She forced open the small mouth.

"I can't believe this…"

She called Nick on the cell phone.

"Nick, for heaven's sake, why have these two day old girls a full set of teeth including fangs?"

"All foxes have teeth, dummy!", was his answer.

"But… bunnies are born toothless, we grow our teeth after six months or so!"

For some reasons, Nick started laughing, "What?! Bunnies are born toothless? Man, I'd love to see a pic of you without teeth! If that's true, how do bunny babies eat?"

"Hell, they don't! They just drink milk!"

"No eating? Just milk? That explains why you guys are so tiny…"

"Ha-ha, so funny, Nick, get your ass in this office at once!"

"I'm on my way… hey, Carrots, have you tried feeding them? I mean, something else than your breasts?"

"No, asshole!", she pressed the red button.

She ripped open the package with the fox baby food.

"Urgh…"

It smelled horrible. Inside where what looked like cereal flakes in tiny donut form, blood red and hard. Again and again she tried to shove one of the tiny donuts in the mouths of the twins, but they rejected.

When Nick finally knocked against the still locked door, Judy was on the verge of tears.

"Wow, what party have I missed?", he smirked when Judy opened bare chested, pressing some kleenex against her bleeding breast.

"Look, she had bitten me! I'm bleeding like mad!"

He saw the food pellets lying everywhere on the ground.

"You tried to feed them these things pure? Haven't you read the instructions on the package?"

"No…", she had to admit.

"Look and learn…", he grinned then took a handful of pellets and stuffed them into his mouth. When he started chomping on them, the cracking sound was louder then the cubs' wailing.

"Hey, _you_ are not supposed to eat them…", Judy protested.

Nick chewed and chewed until the cracking sound stopped. He took Keira on his arm and pressed her chin. Imeediately, she opened her tiny mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

"No, Nick, don't tell me, you…"

He looked like he wanted to give her the kiss of life. A blood red goo oozed out of Nick's mouth. The smell made Judy sick.

"Oh fuck, this is so disgusting… that can't be right, Nick, I mean, this stuff was in your mouth and…"

But Keira stopped screaming immediately, sucking the stuff, swallowing… and she reopened her mouth, wanting more.

"I don't believe it!", Judy gasped.

"Well, in the old times, the vixen used to go hunting. And when she had devoured, let's say, a juicy bunny…", his paw wandered up Judy's thigh.

"Stop that, Nick!"

"… she went back to her burrow, regurgitated the meat and fed the cubs mouth to mouth!" He pointed at the food package, "This is the modern, civilized way!"

"Civilized? You're kidding me", Judy said, while Nick stuffed the next load of red pellets in his mouth.

"Take Leia, do the same!", Nick instructed with full mouth.

"Gross, I can't… the smell alone make me puke…", Judy cried.

"Well, make sure to puke in her mouth, she won't mind…"

The pellets were hard and had the worst taste Judy ever had encountered in her life.

"Don't tell me, this stuff contains bugs!", she said but knew the answer when she saw Nick's broad grin. She took the package and turned it around. 'Contains the juiciest bugs from the swamps of Meadowlands!' she read.

"I think, I'll pass out!", she winced.

It was the strangest feeling to spit the awful tasting stuff in the mouth of the little baby fox, but five minutes later, the twins were completely quiet. When they finally fell asleep, they looked like the perfect angels again. Judy washed out her mouth with tap water.

"I need a huge, strong drink!", she sighed.

"Mother of the year!", Nick smirked.

Within the next four weeks the life of Judy and Nick changed a lot. On the first weekend after they found the twins, Bonnie arrived in Zootopia to help them a little. Peter, Nick's father, also visited them from time to time and gave some valuable advice, even though Judy thought his main reason for visiting was Bonnie. Peter and Bonnie had become real good friends.

At first, Bonnie had been shocked when she brought two stuffed bunny dolls for the kids that got ripped to pieces within seconds. But after some days she was fascinated how quickly they grew and learned.

After one week, the twins started to walk around an all fours; at the end of the second week they could say 'mama', 'dada' and 'granna'. Every piece of furniture had bite marks and once Leia blew the fuses of the apartment after she bit through the cable of the flat TV.

In week three, the toilet training showed first successes.

"I wished my kids had learned that so quickly!", Bonnie said, "It takes at least a year until little bunnies are toilet trained! On some days I had to change eighty diapers!"

Nick shook his head , "Bunnies are really strange!"

"Oh, one year was _average_!", Bonnie said, "Judy took more than twenty months and even after that she still had a lot of accidents – I still remember, she wet her bed only two days before school started!"

Peter and Nick giggled and Judy blushed, "Mom, thanks a lot for this utter irrelevant piece of information!"

"Oh, Nick, I nearly forgot… here are the pictures you wanted to have!", Bonnie reached for her bag and gave Nick two photos.

The first showed Judy as a baby sitting in a kiddy chair, her mouth half open so you could see she has no tooth at all. The other one showed her on a small stage wearing a self-made police uniform with a much too big hat.

"Mooooooom!", Judy yelled and tried to snatch the pics out of Nick's paws, but he was faster.

He quickly took his phone and made digital copies.

"Cute uniform, Carrots!", he laughed. "This one will go on the ZPD notice board… 'Flopsy the copsy!'"

"Nicholas Wilde, I swear, when you do this, we'll have the first inter-racial divorce in history!", she fumed.

On the same day the ZPD rested the case of the tame collars, Judy and Nick had a court hearing that ended with the legal adoption of the twins. They were named trustees of quite a huge amount of money that had been found on more than twelve different bank accounts Horst Lapsa had opened. The twins had also inherited the house at Jasmine Drive. Judy and Nick sold the house for nearly half a million and put all the money in a closed fund. Keira and Leia would each receive one half of the fortune plus interests when they got eighteen years old.

That evening, Stu arrived. He would stay two days, then take his wife back to Bunny Burrows. Judy had been a bit afraid of how he would handle his two vixen granddaughters. But her concern were unnecessary; it was love at first sight. This night, Judy and Nick had their first eight hours of uninterrupted sleep since they got the twins, as Keira and Leia were sleeping with Bonnie and Stu in the guest room. Judy woke up when something hot and wet was touching her face.

"Nick, what in the…", she squeled and pushed his tongue away.

"Bonding time!", he smiled. His paws were all over her, pulling down her panties.

"Nick, are you insane? My parents are in the guest room and the cubs…"

"Awww, Carrots, the room is on the other side and hey, let's face it, who knows when we will have this bed for ourselves again?"

"Nooooo…", she moaned, but his paws were doing wonderful things and slowly she opened her thighs.

Fifteen minutes later, Nick and Judy were swimming in the ocean of pleasure and just when they started surfing the tidal wave, three knocks on the bedroom door made them crash-land in reality.

"Jude, the dude?", Stu's voice came from outside, "Nick? Erm… one of the twins… I can't tell them apart… has filled her diapers and I think, there's something wrong…"

"Cooooming!", shouted Nick under pressure and Judy had to press both her paws in the mouth to not laugh out.

Just when Stu wanted to knock again, the door opened and Nick came out, pulling a shirt over his head.

"Morning… erm… what about Judy? Shouldn't she…", he said.

"Stu, we're living in modern times, daddies can handle a full diaper, too! Don't tell me you haven't changed a diaper with some three hundred kids of yours…"

"Well, of course… I mean… I helped Bonnie with…"

"With what?", said Bonnie who just appeared out of the guest room wearing a red dressing gown. She yawned.

"Strange, I only can remember you helping during production…", she said and vanished in the kitchen to make some coffee.

Nick put little Keira on the living room table and opened her diaper. Stu held his breath.

"See?", he said, "That can't be normal… I mean, all this… mess doesn't came out of that little fellow, did it?"

Nick grinned, "Better believe it… hand me the wet cloth, will you? Thanks. There are plastic bags in the left drawer over there, the sooner we pack this the better…"

He cleaned Keira, then wrapped her in a new diaper.

"During day, she could run without but now she's still tired, so pooping risk is high. There you are…"

Nick pressed her against his chest and Keira immediately closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Judy had tried her best to clean the sheets with a small towel and opened the window. The view from up here was awesome. She sniffed and crinkled her nose.

"Why do his… stuff smell so awful…", she sighed. She definitely needed a shower before she could see her parents and have her first coffee.

Two hours later, Nick and Judy sat in Bogo's office. Chief Bogo had his small glasses on his nose and was studying the papers Kitty had given him.

"I don't like splitting up my best team", he said, "but with two kids you can't be on duty at the same time. And my assistant here", he nodded in Kitty's direction and for some reason she blushed, "said, it would be a good idea to assign you partners who need a little help. So, Wilde… I mean, Nick, you'll team up with Fangmeyer. Maybe you could teach him to take the job a little more seriously!"

"Yes, sir!", Nick nodded.

"And you, Judy, can take care of officer Garuda. You won't know her, she just transferred over from precinct 67… she is an ozelot and a little bit overenthusiastic… I don't want her to shoot someone for the crime of jaywalking."

"I'll do my best, sir!", Judy said, "But sir, with all due respect, may I ask… do you think it was a correct decision to close the tame collar case for good?"

Bogo sighed and took his glasses off, "I know, what you mean, Hop… I mean, Wilde. But we have dug for some years now and all we've got is a conspiracy theory about another conspiracy theory. That poor Lapsa bloke was our only hope, but he's dead now. The killer was a pro, we literally have nothing to start with. Maybe if we get his killer, we will find another clue, but I seriously doubt that."

He waited for some seconds.

"Well, there is just another thing… I thought about maybe…"

Kitty cleared her throat loudly.

"Okay, _we_ thought… actually it was _her_ idea, so, we asked ourselves if you would need… or if the twins would still need… just in case, maybe you already had other animals in mind…"

"Sir, I have no idea, what you…", started Judy.

"Heck, Kit… I mean, officer MacMahon and I would like to volunteer to become godparents of the twins!", he blurted out.

Kitty grinned and started hopping on the spot.

"But sir… Kitty… what a great idea! We would be honored, we haven't even thought about that yet!"

Kitty jumped over the desk and hugged Nick, while Bogo walked around and pressed Judy's paw.

"Well done, you two… dismissed!"

That night, after Judy's parents had gone and the two cubs had finally fallen asleep between them, Judy and Nick were lying on each side of the bed watching the muted TV. Suddenly, Judy clicked it off.

"Nick, don't you think it's strange?"

"What, Carrots?"

"I mean… a year ago things were completely different… and now… it happens all so fast!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, honey bunny… I can still see you in front of that ice cream parlour in your silly meter maid uniform!"

Judy giggled, "Yeah, I was so mad at you… but seriously, all these things, falling in love, nearly losing you, marrying, and now kids… aren't these things supposed to happen in a longer time span?"

"Let's face it, Carrots, we're no ordinary by-the-book couple… everything must be a great adventure… and we are the heroes who will always make the day!"

"You're a hopeless romantic, Nicholas Wilde, d'you know that?"

"I just know that I love you!"

Judy closed her eyes, "Yeah… I love you, too… forever and ever…"

Ten minutes later, everything that could be heard in the huge apartment was the soft breathing of three foxes and one bunny, sound asleep.

… _to be concluded …_


	32. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The cab driver stopped his car right in front of the entrance of the ZPD, right under the "No parking at all times" sign. The tomcat turned around to his guest.

"That's 37 bucks exactly, sir!", he said.

He received a fifty dollar bill from that old fox bloke that looked a little strange in his old fashioned suit that was much too big for him.

"You can keep the rest!", smirked the fox.

"Wow, thank you, sir! Wait, I'll help you!"

He got out, ran around the car and opened the door. He waited til the fox had both his feet on the ground, then heaved him up. The tomcat was a bit smaller than the fox, but he nearly fell over as he hadn't expected his guest being so lightweighted. He took out two canes and gave one in each paw of the fox.

"That's very kind of you", said Nick to the cabby.

"Hey, sir, I'll give you my card, call me whenever you need a ride!" As the fox needed both paws for his canes, he simply shoved the card in the breast pocket of the fox's jacket.

Nick thanked him and waited til the cab was gone. Then he started his long journey inside the ZPD. Left foot, left cane, right foot, right cane…

Nick had always been a positive fox and so he was glad that his slow walk gave him much more time for thinking. Four years ago, the first symptoms showed, but it took the doctors another six month until they found out that Nick was suffering from a rare viral disease that was slowly dissolving his muscles and bones. Medication had slowed down the progress of the disease and kept the damage within his legs.

It was a bright sunny day in June, not too hot, but already quite warm, so Nick was glad when the automatic doors closed behind him and the cool air from the air condition surrounded him together with a thousand memories. He nearly expected to see Clawhauser's smile behind his reception desk, but the desk was gone, just the brighter shade of floor tiles told him where it once was. And poor old Benji had died seven years ago from a stroke. By then, the obese cheetah had been up to 900 pounds and twelve officers had gritted their teeth while carrying his casket to his final resting place.

Some feet to the right, they had built a new reception desk in four different heights where four officers from mouse to polar bear could assist visitors of any size. Currently, they were all busy as this was not a normal day in ZPD and the entrance hall was full of visitors. In the huge lawn behind the main building, a stage had been built up, together with some five hundred seats and two VIP galleries set on top of two-story high scaffoldings. Today, 57 new recruits would celebrate their graduation from police academy.

Signs had been attached, telling visitors to go to the right and follow the markings to the public entrance, but Nick wanted to take a detour, even if he would have to pay with intensive pain in his weak legs this evening. He turned to the left into a long corridor that had not been there when he joined ZPD more than twenty years ago. ZPD had been enlarged, three new buildings had been built and connected to each other.

"This place now looks like a fucking college campus!", Bogo had cursed once, but Nick knew he had been secretly proud of it.

Crime labs, a state-of-the-art shooting range with 3D hologram simulations and hundreds of new offices and three more helipads had been built.

Nick liked the corridor he was shuffling through the best. Not only because it had been his idea once to set up a place like that, but because of the ever silent atmosphere. The wall to his right was full of huge windows, letting in the light from the large field behind them. Apart from someone yelling "Test, test" in a microphone on the stage outside, followed by a huge feedback howl, this was one of the most quiet places in ZPD.

The wall on the left was massive, with no windows at all. Here, hundreds of photos had been hung up, each one with a brass plate below it. Over all these pictures, a giant sign read:

IN MEMORIAM

… _to those who serve and protect …_

For some minutes he slowly walked on, stopping here and there to rest his legs. When he finally reached his destination, he turned around to face the 73rd picture from the left and third from below. After checking that he was all alone in the corridor, he bent forward, resting his arms on the cane handles.

"Hey, Carrots", he whispered, smiling at the picture from Judy's graduation day. As always, he was fascinated how young she looked on that picture, how bright her eyes were, how enthusiastic she had been. "You miss me?", he said. Then, as he always did, he remained silent and read the brass plate under her photo, even though he knew all the information by heart.

 _JUDITH E. WILDE, born HOPPS_

 _BRAVERY – TRUST - INTEGRITY_

 _Born 1993, joined ZPD 2014_

 _Service Star in Gold 2015_

 _Promoted Lieutenant 2017_

 _Grand Police Cross 2018_

 _Secret Service Silver Star 2018_

 _Promoted Captain 2019_

 _Chief of Police Academy 2019_

 _Order of Z.C.F.S., 1_ _st_ _class 2022_

 _Killed on duty 2023_

 _Posthumous Awards:_

 _Honorary Citizenship of Zootopia_

 _City Council's Medal of Honor_

 _Zootopia Police Academy renamed to_

' _JUDY HOPPS POLICE ACADEMY'_

As always, Nick smiled when he read the last lines. Originally they had wanted to name the place 'Judith E. Wilde', but Nick had opposed this idea. He thought, her maiden name was much better suited. And no one had called her Judith, except for Bonnie when she was angry at her.

Today was a happy day and as he would have no time later, he closed his eyes to remember her last day…

 _It was September 29_ _th_ _, the sun was shining but the air was quite chilly, the first sign of winter. Nick was on patrol duty with his partner, officer Sheila Al-Dshuhara, a young lynx with giant blue eyes, always laughing, always talking._

"… _imagine the nerves of that guy! And I said, hey, fella, these are my boobs and if I wanted your paws all over them, I'll call ya, but don't wait for it!"_

 _Nick sat on the left seat, slurping the rest cocoa out of the styrofoam cup. He liked Sheila, she was vivacious and funny. Since Judy had taken over control at Police Academy, she nearly never was on patrol anymore, but this week she would be driving around somewhere with new recruits._

 _Just when Sheila wanted to start the next funny story about one of her strange dates, the radio came alive._

" _All units, all units, code red-one, I say again, red-one. South Meadowlands Highschool, the janitor called and reported two suspects with guns in the building. Graduation ceremony is ongoing in the gym, all pupils are in there. At least one injured person."_

 _Nick switched on the lights and sirens and Sheila stepped on the gas. Nick checked his seat belt, her driving style was extremely aggressive._

" _Careful, careful, to the left…", squealed Nick._

" _I saw him, I saw him…", she replied, followed by a loud clanking sound._

" _That was my rear view mirror, I'll let Chief Bogo take it from your salary check!", hissed Nick._

" _Fuck…", she just answered._

 _When they came to a screeching halt in front of the school's main entrance, three other cars had already stopped there._

 _Officer Calhoun, a rhino, spoke first, "We heard two gunshots some ten seconds ago. The janitor is lying behind that glass door, he's injured badly!"_

 _While he reported, more and more police cars arrived. Judy jumped out of one of them._

" _You guys, remain in the car!", she yelled at her students. She closed the door, gave Nick the slighest inkling of a smile and shouted, "Okay, I'm taking over from here!" as she saw she was the highest ranking officer. Calhoun repeated his report and Judy nodded._

" _Two groups! You six, you come with me, we are group one! The rest, group two, follows us, Lieutenant Wilde's leading! I want to see a clear formation, okay? Jennings, lose the shades or I'll shove them down your throat!"_

" _Hey, Carrots, don't forget, this is not one of your academy simulations here…", said Nick._

 _She just nodded then lifted her arm._

 _With heads down and guns out, they stormed into the place. Judy and her group secured, while Nick kneeled next to the janitor. He was hit in the chest and was bleeding badly._

" _No one knows yet… they are all in the gym…", he wheezed. His lung was punctured. "I know the guys… they have been expelled six months ago… they have shotguns and pistols and lots of ammo…"_

 _He pointed to his left, "They… they want to go… in the library… from there... a store room full of furniture… they said… go there…", his voice faded._

" _Come on, pops, what do they want there?", Nick said, but the eyes of the old stoat had closed._

" _He's dead", he looked at Judy and she nodded. She looked at a map of the building attached next to the fire fighting switchboard._

" _I see… the library is here, here is the storeroom… it's directly under the gym! They are after the kids in there! Maybe there is a trap door or something…"_

 _She just needed a second to make a decision and a plan._

" _Nick, you and your group, go outside and directly into the gym. Evacuate them all! We'll try to cut them off, before they reach that storeroom. Quick!"_

 _When they passed each other, Judy turned around._

" _Nick, you take care of the kids!"_

 _Nick just nodded, not aware that these were the last words he would ever hear from his beloved wife. In this moment, however, it didn't occur to him that she might had not meant the kids in the gym._

 _A brass band played loud music when the cops stormed the gym. More than two hundred animals were sitting on the ranks, most of them kids, staring at the cops, unaware of the danger. The headmistress, a pig with a long colorful dress, marched to him, a microphone in her split hoof. The music had stopped._

" _Officer, what in the name of…", she started._

" _Gimme that mike!", Nick yelled and snatched it. He clicked it on._

" _Listen, everyone, I am Lieutenant Nick Wilde, ZPD. Stay calm and follow my orders! Please evacuate this building immediately, using the next available emergency exit! Walk quickly, but do not run! Keep calm, keep order!"_

 _The emergency exits were in the back of the building and slowly the crowd progressed towards them. Nick assigned three officers, one for each exit, to speed things up. Then, gunshots could be heard very clearly and this finally made the crowd realize what was going on. Some screamed, but the majority kept calm and hurried outside._

 _Nick looked around and saw a little tabby kitten sitting there, sobbing. Just when he wanted to ask her why she was not moving, he noticed the wheelchair._

" _Hey, little cutie, stop crying… what is your name?"_

" _Fe… Felona…", she sobbed._

" _What a beautiful name for such a beautiful little girl!", Nick said smiling, "I am Nick."_

" _The… the brakes got stuck and I can't…"_

" _No problem, Felona, you need to help me, okay? I'll take you on my arms and we walk out of here, okay?", said Nick, wondering where her parents were and why she was left behind. But when he lifted her out of the wheelchair, he saw a sticker on it, reading 'Property of Meadowlands Orphanage'._

" _I'll have to check if everyone is out of here, but I don't have eyes in my back, so this is your job, Felona. When you see someone, just yell, okay?"_

" _Okay!", she said and her little arms hugged his neck._

" _That's my girl!", Nick said._

 _He estimated that two third of the animals had left the gym by now. The speaker of his radio kept spreading bad news._

" _We're under fire… two officers down! We need reinforcements, quick! I'm injured… the Captain is still in there…"_

 _At least, Judy was still up and running._

" _They have a bomb!"_

 _Nick broke out in cold sweat. He started yelling "Run! Run! There's a bomb!"_

 _He continued checking for animals left behind, when he heard Calhoun's voice from the radio, "Retreat! The Captain ordered everyone to retreat!"_

" _Thank God!", Nick whispered._

 _The last animals were pushed through the doors, the officers followed. Nick was the last one to walk through the door when a giant hand lifted him up and he was engulfed in hot air. When ground approached, he turned to the right to protect the little kitten in his arms from the fall. All air was knocked out of him. He heard nothing, just a high piercing sound. Pain everywhere. Felona cried and said something. She had a small wound on the head._

" _Paramedic!", he yelled, but he couldn't even hear himself. A police officer came to his aid._

" _Take care of her!", Nick yelled at her and she answered something Nick couldn't understand. She pointed at his chest. Nick looked down and saw a large shard of glass sticking out directly under his ribs. He pulled it out and now he felt the pain. He looked around._

 _The soccer field behind the gym looked like a battlefield. Everywhere animals, more or less injured. He turned around. The gym was still standing, but the library next to it was a smoldering ruin, the roof had sagged in. A tiny voice in his head:_ Judy was in there.

" _Judy! Judy!", he yelled and ran towards the former library. The first fire trucks arrived at the scenery._

 _He ran back and forth in the chaos yelling Judy's name until he finally found Sheila sitting in front of the shattered main door, covered in dust, bleeding from a gash on her forehead. When she saw him, her eyes got wide._

" _Nick, you're bleeding! What happened? I… I just…", her eyes filled with tears and she started to sob._

" _Sheila, have you seen the Captain? Did she came out? They retreated, I heard it on the radio…"_

 _Sheila just shook her head. Then she started to cry._

 _Nick left her behind and saw Calhoun lying on the ground, two paramedics working on his bleeding legs._

" _Calhoun, where is Captain Wilde? She had retreated with you, hadn't she?"_

" _No… she stayed… we shot one of the boys… the other hid… he had the bomb… Captain said, we should retreat, but she… was hit…", Calhoun said through gritted teeth._

 _An ice cold fist gripped Nick's inner organs and squeezed hard._

" _Where?", he whispered._

" _The legs… and… the chest… she bled from her mouth…", Calhoun closed his eyes._

 _The paramedic looked at Nick. "We sedated him. His leg looks bad. Sir, you're bleeding, too, maybe you should come…"_

" _No time!", Nick said and started to run to the ruin that had been the library ten minutes ago._

 _The floor was covered in shards and after two steps Nick's bare feet were bleeding and hurting, when two fire fighters stopped him._

" _Sir, you can't go in there!"_

" _But there is someone in there…"_

" _Sir, please, no one could have survived in there…"_

 _The world became dark and void._

 _One hour later, Nick stood on a chair in the empty briefing room. Kitty had taken off his shirt and used a first aid kit to patch up his bleeding wound in his side, while Nick shouted in his cell phone._

" _Listen, I don't care how many injured animals you just got! Check the list again. Wilde. NO, WILDE! Whiskey-India-Lima-Delta-Echo! Heck, this can't be that difficult, how many bunnies in police uniform do you have over there? … None? … Check again. Well, thanks for nothing, asshole!"_

 _He sighed. "They say she's not in the hospital!"_

" _Nick, hold still, it's still bleeding like mad…", Kitty said with a lifeless voice._

" _Ouch! Maybe something fell on her head and she runs around with no orientation…"_

" _Nick, we have informed all units. But… maybe… we should face the fact…" Her eyes filled with tears._

" _Kitty, don't say that. You know how tough she is. And the coroner has found only two bodies in there…"_

 _The two racoon brothers who had commited the heineous act, had indeed been kicked out of school for drug possession only seven month ago. Kitty had finished wrapping band aids around Nick's chest._

" _Here…", she said, "I brought you a fresh shirt…"_

 _Just when he put on the shirt, Bogo stormed in the room. His face was pale._

" _The morgue just called. They are pretty sure that… the remains they found belong to three animals, not two…"_

" _This proofs nothing!", Nick yelled at the young coroner who had just handed him a police badge, dented and bent, the leather burned. "We all have the same thing, see?"_

" _Sir…", the coroner said slowly, well aware of the fact that this fox had been the husband of the victim, "true, the body is not identified yet… but she was a cop and it was a bunny…"_

" _How do you know that it was a bunny? Twenty minutes ago, you hadn't even be sure if you have two or three bodies!"_

 _The coroner swallowed. The last thing he wanted to tell that rabid fox was that they had a long ear back in the examination room that could only belong to one kind of animal. Helplessly, he turned around and the other coroner, a badger who had been on the job for thirty years, came to his aid._

" _Sir, we made tests and are a hundred percent sure, it's a bunny."_

" _Then let me see her", Nick insisted._

" _Sir, no. I won't allow that. Do yourself a favor and keep her in your memory the way she was."_

 _Behind Nick, Kitty started to cry and when Nick wanted to say something, he felt a heavy hoof on his shoulder._

" _No, Nick", Bogo said to him, "I will do this. I am her chief, it is my duty…"_

 _Five minutes later, Bogo came out of the tiled room, white as ash._

 _Nick stood up from the bench where he had tried to calm trembling, sobbing Kitty. "Chief…?", he said, but Bogo shook his head and gave a small item in Nick's paw._

 _It was a tiny piece of metal, ripped and dented, black with soot. Nick wiped it off with his paw. It had once been a police name tag. The letters 'ITH E. WIL' were still legible. Kitty now cried loudly and Bogo tried to lay his muscular arm around her but withdrew in the last second. The two coroners lowered their heads in silent respect._

 _Bonnie hummed happily when she finished wiping her huge kitchen table. In novels, mothers normally had premonitions when something was wrong with their kids, they had 'bad feelings' or something like that. But Bonnie felt splendid. Stu was out in the fields, harvesting the cabbage and the harvest would be record-breaking this year. When her phone hummed and she saw a picture of Nick and the twins on the screen, she smiled. She looked forward talking to Nick or one of the eight-year-old twins._

" _Hey, Nick! How are you doing? Wait… what? … No, I have not watched TV… what do you mean?"_

 _For the next thirty seconds she listened. Then she pressed the red button without saying goodbye. She stared down in disbelief. When she raised her head, she suddenly was face-to-face with Fay. The blind woman had sneaked in the kitchen and sat down opposite of her mother without Bonnie even noticing it._

" _He told you, didn't he?", Fay whispered._

 _Bonnie just nodded. She fumbled for the remote and switched on the small TV set in the kitchen._

"… _currently police talks about one hundred and twenty injured animals, twenty-six of them badly. It's a miracle that we have no casualties among the crowd celebrating in the gym, thanks to the fact that the bomb which was intended to go off directly under the gym in a storeroom exploded in the library nearby instead._

" _From what we know now, one police officer, Captain Judith Wilde, 30 years old, famous for not only her big successes in crime fighting and reforming the police academy, but also for the first pred-prey marriage with her partner, Nicholas Wilde, who also got injured today, is the only casualty on that gruesome day here in…"_

 _Bonnie muted the TV. "You knew?", she simply asked._

 _Fay nodded._

" _And there was nothing you could do…"_

" _Mom, you know perfectly well that it doesn't work this way. On other occasions, I have tried to change things I'd dreamed about, but it never worked. In some cases, I even assume I've triggered events while trying to prevent them."_

" _Bu if you had told her…"_

" _Mom, you know her, don't you? Do you really think, she had stayed behind and let other cops run in the building? Heck, no! She would never have done that! It would have been against anything she believed."_

 _Bonnie just nodded. Then she got up. "I need to pack. I'll go to Nick, he'll need all the help he can get… your job will be to tell your dad as soon as he comes home… but I'm sure, you knew that before."_

 _Fay sighed, "Of course I did."_

 _One day later, the footage from the surveillance cams in the school's library was checked by forensic experts in the ZPD. It was showed to Chief Bogo, his superiors, the minister for interior affairs and to the mayor, Vigdís Sigurðardóttir, who had succeeded Mayor Lionheart after his retirement. Nick had declined the invitation. They all watched how the first raccoon got shot. The tape had no audio, so they watched the battle between the cops and the remaining raccoon carrying the bomb. Bogo flinched each time he saw Judy got hit. He saw how Judy yelled something and the other officers retreated, some of them wounded._

 _Judy threw her gun away. She was out of ammo. She was spitting out blood. The raccoon saw his chance and tried to carry the bomb, that had been packed in a sports bag, to the door of the storage room. He held the trigger in his paw. Judy got up on her feet and started walking towards him._

" _I can't believe that… how is she walking, she got shot through both legs", said Mayor Sigurðardóttir. Being an otter, she was the smallest animal in the room._

 _Judy pounced. She crashed head first in the raccoon. The picture changed, the forensics had inserted a zoom. You know just saw the upper half of the two fighting animals. Judy had smashed the gun out of the raccoons paw, but running out of power, she just bit his neck and held on. Her paw moved towards the trigger, but the raccoon had his own paw on the button. Judy was much too weak to wrestle the trigger away from the raccoon. The young boy screamed, blood spurted out of his neck where Judy was biting him. But he still held on to the trigger and started walking towards the storage room door. When Judy noticed that they were approaching the door, she hammered her paw on his. The raccoon noticed too late what she had planned, her fingers were squeezing through his own, reaching the button. The screen turned white, than black._

" _I can't believe it!", said the mayor again. She shook her head, "She triggered the bomb herself! But why?"_

 _The forensics guy who had operated the Blu-Ray player, cleared his throat._

" _I can answer that, mylady. If the bomb had went off in the storage room, the detonation would have been devastating. The force of the explosion would have gone through the weakest point: the wooden ceiling. Even though the gym had been evacuated, we would have had a catastrophic death toll. In the open library with it's big room and glass walls, the bomb's power distributed evenly in all directions; animals got wounded by glass shards, but not more."_

 _The mayor nodded and turned towards her secretary, a young sheep who quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes._

" _Council meeting, now. Call everyone. I want to get some things done. And get me the press. The people of Zootopia have a right to know what had happened here."_

 _The same evening, a huge press conference was held, where the mayor announced, that Judy Wilde had been posthumously awarded the highest order of Zootopia and the honorary citizenship for saving more than hundred animals by sacrificing her own life. The state funeral directly at the inner wall of the council building would be held on Friday, all shops and businesses would close down. She told the media what had happened inside the library and the conference ended with a minute of silence to honor Judy._

Nick still was alone in the corridor, but the noise from the outside grew louder and louder as more and more animals arrived. His memory of the funeral was quite blurred. Over six million animals had stood along the five major streets of Zootopia where the hoarse went through, escorted by twenty-one police officers on motorcycles. When Nick had found out, that more than fifty orphans from the Meadowlands Orphanage had been in the gym together with the little Felona in her wheelchair, he had had an idea. After talking with Bonnie, Stu, Peter and Kitty, he had let the funeral home bring a white coffin into the orphanage and had asked the kids if they would paint it. Leia didn't want to come, she stayed with Bonnie, but Keira insisted on coming and helping. She immediately befriended little Felona, even though she was three years older than the kitten.

At the end, the coffin was colorful and made Nick smile and he was sure that Judy would have liked it, too. A nine-year-old girl had painted Judy with angel's wings on the front of the coffin, some other had pictured Judy sitting on a cloud watching over the kids in the orphanage.

In movies, it always rains when the hero gets buried, but on that Friday the sun shone bright and beautiful. The procession through town took more than four hours and Nick was glad when he finally could sit down. He had carried Leia nearly the entire time. She now slept in his arm, looking so fragile in her black dress. Nick's gala uniform was soaked with sweat. Keira, on the other hand, had walked the entire way. She had refused point-blank to wear black and had decided on a white summer dress instead.

"I am not mourning!", the eight-year-old girl had said, "My mom died a hero and I want everyone to see how proud I am!"

The only scene that Nick remembered clearly, was during the sermon, when Keira suddenly stood up and walked through an ocean of flowers to the coffin. In front of it, a huge black cushion was attached, holding all of Judy's decorations and medals. The little vixen girl stood on her tiptoes, silently watched by more than two thousand, and took the burned and dented badge off the cushion and attached it on her dress. Then, with trembling lips, she raised her right arm to salute.

A photographer shot a picture and the little girl giving her last salute to her fallen mom was on the front cover of every paper and every magazine for the next days and would later become 'picture of the year'. Nick still had a copy hanging over his bed.

Life. Goes. On. Three words, so simple, so meaningless, but nonetheless, so true. Life _had_ to go on. The kids went back to school after the holidays, Nick had to deal with new challenges during work and at home. Keira was the tough one, at least on the outside. Leia, always more sentimental, needed more support. Felona, the little kitten Nick had saved, became the best friend of the twins and in the years to follow she spent more time in the Wilde's home than in the orphanage and no one even noticed when she started to call Nick 'dad'. Judy remained in their hearts, where she would never die. In Nick's dreams, he could talk to her, tell her what the kids learned and did. Fay would have understood him, and after Judy's sister had died of pneumonia, Nick talked to her in his dreams, too. Did they really visit him in his dreams or was it just wishful thinking? Who could even tell the difference?

Nick finally walked on, sloth speed, his legs hurting like hell. He stopped to take a pain killer out of the little glass in his pocket. He turned his head to take a long look at Kitty's picture. She died only one year after Judy. Bogo had been on a conference and Kitty was on her way to the airport to pick him up. She drove a patrol car and when she heard about two juveniles having an illegal car race, she blocked the road they were using. One of the guys crashed in her car and poor Kitty had had no chance. She had lost both of her legs and died in hospital just four days later. Only two weeks after her burial, Chief Bogo had resigned as Chief of ZPD.

Nick shuffled on and here he was, old Bogo himself. After his retirement, the huge water buffalo had moved into a tiny apartment where Nick visited him twice a week. They didn't talk much, but they had discovered that they shared the same passion for playing backgammon, so they sat heads down over the boardgame most of the time.

During one of their games, Bogo had said, "How's the new chief doing?"

Nick had sighed, "He's a complete moron, compared to you."

"So, I was an incomplete moron?" Bogo moved two of his pieces.

"Most of the time, the new guy doesn't know what he's doing", continued Nick and reached for the dice.

"Don't be too hard on him. In fact, I heard a lot of good stuff about him…"

Nick had snorted, "From whom?"

"Well, I have my sources… he has taken over the training concept developed by Judy…"

As usual, when he heard Judy's name, a jolt of pain went through Nick's heart.

"… and he took the best mice to build up a ZPD branch in Little Rodentia!", Bogo had continued.

He grunted as Nick put one of his pieces on the bar.

"I trust him. He is doing a good job. I picked him myself."

"Yes, sir, but with all due respect, he's young and there are a lot officers much more experienced…", Nick had answered.

Bogo threw the dice but wasn't able to set his piece back in Nick's home field.

"The city council has approved his plans for enlarging the ZPD. He will get fifty new officers and tons of money for new gear", Bogo had continued, "so, I guess, he made a pretty good job presenting his plans to them. The council is not famous for being easy with money…"

"I heard, a certain water buffalo had helped him with that!", Nick had smirked.

Suddenly, Bogo had grabbed his shoulder and when Nick had looked up, he'd seen tears in Bogo eyes.

"Nick", Bogo had said with a tenderness Nick never had heard before, "don't repeat my mistakes. Do what your heart tells you. Remember what Judy said: In Zootopia, anyone can become anything. Believe in that. Then, even a mangy fox con artist can become a great chief of police."

Exactly four years after Kitty's death, Nick had wanted to visit Bogo and found his apartment door open. The smell of cordite had filled his nose. He had found Bogo lying on the bed, the silver pistol, a retirement present from Nick, still smoking.

The media had written a nonsense story about him being killed by accident when his gun went off during cleaning. But Nick doubted seriously that Bogo would have gone through the effort to put on his gala uniform and pin all of his 57 medals on his chest just for a session of gun cleaning. True, he had not left a letter, but next to him, on his bed, Nick had found an old picture of Kitty.

Nick walked on, looked at more pictures of old friends and colleagues, stared in disbelief at Benjamin Clawhauser's graduation picture that showed a slim, sporty cheetah Nick had never met. As always, he chuckled. He had reached the end of the gallery, loads of space left for future generations. Normally, he would have needed to walk all the way back as this corridor just leads into the forensic's building with no door to the back yard. But the window next to him served as an emergency exit. It was alarm secured, but Nick just squeezed an aluminium chewing gum wrapper between the contacts and opened the door. When he was outside, he faced another problem. The entire guest area was closed off with crime scene tape, the only entrance being on the other side, more than hundred yards away. There he could see a long queue of guests waiting in front of two cops checking off names from the list of invited.

Nick sighed. The scaffolding with the VIP seats was only some forty yards away from his position, so he decided to take just another short cut. He used one of his canes to lift the tape, then bent down low to walk underneath like a sloth doing limbo.

When he just thought he had made it and took a deep breath, he heard a voice yelling.

"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing? Go back in line, like all the others!"

Nick turned around slowly and saw two cops running towards him, one huge moose and a grim looking badger.

The badger went on yelling, "Why, you mangy little…", when his eyes suddenly widened in panic and he stopped in his tracks while his paw flew up to his forehead in salute. The moose did the same.

"Sir, sorry, sir… I haven't meant… sir, I have not reckognized…"

"No problem, fellows", Nick said with a wide grin, "these days I sometimes don't reckognize myself in the mirror…"

"Sir…", the badger looked at his canes, "can we assist you? I mean… we could bring you up there…", he pointed to the scaffolding, "… if you don't mind, sir!"

 _Fuck, three years ago I would have kicked your ass to the moon… before breakfast!_ Nick thought, but then he remembered the stairs and smiled, "Oh, I won't mind at all… very nice of you, guys."

The moose took his canes, then they grabbed his arms and were more carrying then leading him towards the VIP area.

"Great day, sir, isn't it?", the badger said, "Oh, and by the way, congratulations, sir!"

"Thank you!", Nick replied.

They carried him up two flights of the stairs but when approaching the third, Nick said, "Well, I thank you a lot, but… I think, I'll manage the rest!"

The last thing he wanted was the other VIPs up there watching him being delivered like a parcel.

They saluted and the badger gave him a stupid grin, "Well, sir, if you don't mind… please don't mention my dumb mistake down there to the chief, will you?"

"Hey, we're all cops, and we all make mistakes sometimes, right, fellows?"

He needed nearly five minutes for the last set of stairs and wished he had let those guys carry him up all the way… dignity was a luxury he couldn't afford anymore.

On the top of the scaffolding was a platform, ten yards by ten yards, with comfortable chairs and some tables carrying drinks and snacks. Most people were still standing around, chatting, an ocean of blue gala uniforms. For a second Nick wished he had put on his old uniform, too. But he had tried it on and he looked like a clown. He had lost much too much weight in the recent months. That suit he wore now was not much better but at least he was not disgracing the uniform.

On the entrance of the VIP area stood a beautiful young fawn in that mini skirt uniform, Kitty had loved so much. Well, to be honest, Nick loved it, too. Especially when worn by girls with beautiful long legs and this officer definetely belonged in that category. When she turned around and saw him, she smiled and yelled: "Atten… hut!"

All animals on deck turned around as one and saluted. Nick grinned, wishing to salute back, but with two canes he couldn't. The fawn came to his aid. She took his canes, laid them under the front row of chairs and reached for his arm. She pressed his arm against her voluptous breasts, giving him a wide smile.

"Oh, sir, it's such a privilege to have you here today! I really have looked forward meeting you again. You remember me, don't you?"

"Of course", Nick said while his mind raced. _Della? Stella? Dory? Stacey? No, something with B… Bertha? Definetely not. Brenda? Bambi? No one would name a fawn Bambi…_ "I would never forget such a beautiful officer with eyes like a mountain lake!", he whispered in her ear.

The fawn broke out in laughter, "Oh, sir, you haven't changed a bit, still breaking hearts left, right and center!" She pressed his arm even harder. The name tag was on her right bosom, but he couldn't read it and if he moved his head closer he would look like an old pervert staring on her breasts…

"Here…", she said, "I have reserved this chair for you, you can see everything from here and I brought some extra cushions. Here, have a glass of water!"

She sat down next to him and when Nick asked her if she shouldn't go back to her post at the entrance, she giggled.

"I only volunteered for this job to see you again, sir…", she purred and looked him deep in the eyes, "the other VIPs can take care for themselves, I guess. I'll never forget how you helped me during my first weeks as a cop, sir. You believed in me when nobody else thought a fawn could do more than parking duty!"

Nick smiled, "So, how is the new chief doing?"

She waved off, "He is okay… tries his best, I suppose, but not half as good as you have been as a chief… I liked you much better…", her face came closer to him with every word she said.

Suddenly, a loud yelling could be heard all over the ground. Everyone turned their heads, Nick too. There was a small commotion at the entrance, where a slim figure passed the queue, jumped elegantly over the fence, then kicked off a pair of high heeled shoes. It was a fox, a vixen, to be precise. She took the shoes in her hands and started running barefoot on the grass next to the red carpet. The two police officers at the entrance did nothing to stop her, on the contrary, they gave her a wide smile.

As the vixen came closer, you could see how strikingly beautiful she was. She wore a white, short dress that screamed out scandal with each step she made. It did nothing to hide her well endowed figure. Every animal turned her head after her. She vanished from Nick's view when she reached the base of the VIP area. Nick could hear her running up the stairs, it just took her ten seconds before she appeared on the top floor. She jumped over three rows of chairs and crash landed directly on Nick's lap, knocking all the air out of him.

"Daddy!", she yelled and started covering his face with kisses.

Before Nick's face turned from red to blue, she stopped and turned her head to the giggling fawn next to her.

"Oh, hi, Celia!", she said.

 _Celia! I knew it!_

"Have you taken good care of him?"

"Nice to see you, Leia", answered Celia, "Of course I did! You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks! But daddy, I don't like how _you_ look! Have you lost weight?"

Nick finally was able to speak again, "Yes, in the last ten seconds you squeezed ten pounds out of me! Look how loose my suit fits!"

The two girls were giggling. Leia moved from her father's lap and sat down to his right. On the other side, Celia got up.

"Leia, you'll take over for me, will you? I'll have to go back to my post!"

"Of course! See ya!" She turned to Nick, "I am so excited! How was the trip here? You make it alright? You are not too exhausted?"

"Leia, it's just six blocks. And I took a cab, so don't worry! By the way, your sister told me, you would come later as you would have to stay in the theater for the final rehearsal?"

"Yes, but the director is _very_ sweet, when I told him about sis', he let me off early! The premiere is tomorrow night, don't forget, you'd promised to come!"

"I will, I will! I don't want to miss my little girl in her first appearance as a main character on stage!"

"Do you like my new dress?", she asked and stood up to twirl around, causing two stage workers down below to drop a microphone as they stared up to her open mouthed.

Nick sighed, "A nice little nothing you are nearly wearing…"

"Oh, dad, please, don't be such a killjoy… it was _very_ expensive!"

"How come? It looks like it's made out of two sheets of kleenex…"

"Daaaaad… do you like it or not?"

"It looks great on you", Nick gave in, "But what happened to your legs?"

Giggling, she put her long legs on his lap. From knee down to her feet, her fur had been shaved off, exposing her pitch black skin.

"Cool, isn't it? It's the latest fashion. DJ Esmeralda had done it, too!"

"DJ what?", Nick asked.

"Oh, dad, you should listen to more music. She's Zootopia's most famous artist…"

"Oh, before I forgot… I called Grandma Bonnie, she is so sorry she can't make it, but you know her, since she and Gideon had expanded their business she's all about work!"

Ten years ago, after Stu had suddenly died from a stroke, Gideon Grey had asked Bonnie to join businesses. Gideon, his wife and his grown-up sons had turned the small village bakery into a big business, operating more than fifty stores in Zootopia. He had specialized on selling bread, cakes and cookies made with natural farm-made ingredients only. After Bonnie had accepted, Gideon had made her a CEO, responsible for all the farms they owned, so he could concentrate on the stores. It turned out that she was very good in big business. Nearly all of her kids were now her employees and Grey & Hopps was one of the biggest companies in Zootopia.

Gideon was still a good friend of Nick's, he never failed to visit when he was in town. Suddenly, Nick felt old, even though he was only 48 years. Peter, his father, had died eight years ago, peacefully in his sleep. Nick still missed him a lot and never failed to visit his grave on his birthday.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Leia yelled, "There they come, there they come!"

A marching band started to play and a voice boomed out of the speakers.

"Ladies and gents, please welcome the graduates of the Judy Hopps Police Academy of 2037!"

It took quite some time until all animals had reached the stage and found there position as so many different species were represented.

Nick dozed away while the new chief and the new mayor gave their speeches but was wide awake when Leia hit him with her elbow.

The mayor just said, "… and now, without any further ado, here is the recruit who finished top of the class, giving the final speech for today… big hands for Officer Keira Wilde!"

The crowd cheered, Leia put her paw in her mouth and gave a long whistle while jumping up and down. Her twin sister stepped forward. The blue uniform could not hide her beauty. She waved in Nick's and Leia's direction before she reached for the microphone. Immediately, the crowd felt silent.

"Integrity. Bravery. Trust.", she said, her voice was melodious but strong and vibrant, making everyone in the crowd focusing on her alone.

"Three words. Most animals don't even think twice about these words, but for us officers of the Zootopia Police Department these words are much more and not just because they had been engraved on our badges. During our training at the academy, these three words had been engraved in our hearts. These words had been ingraved in here, too!"

She reached down and her paw came up with a black object she held high. Murmuring started in the audience as everyone recognized the object. The photo of the little fox girl in the white dress fighting her tears, saluting in front of the coffin of her dead mother had become iconic.

Keira looked at the badge as if she saw it for the first time.

"These words are nearly illegible on my mother's badge. But my mother had lived by these three words, more, she even died for them. Some may think it's strange for a vixen to call a bunny 'mother', a prey animal. Foxes and bunnies had been natural enemies for millennia. And even after we became sapient and civilized, the differences remained, fired by prejudices and wrong accusations. Believe me, I had my share of bad jokes and taunting remarks, but this bunny, Judy Wilde, had been my mother in everything but in blood and I am proud calling her my mother!"

Nick heard Leia sobbing next to him and reched for her paw.

"For she gave the biggest sacrifice one could give and she did it out of her own free will and she saved the lives of more than hundred animals, some are here today. Would I have done the same in her situation? Honestly, I don't know. I hope I will never have to make this choice.

"My mom had wanted to become a police officer since she was a child. In a time, where no one accepted bunnies as police officers, she had chosen the hard way. In police academy, she had to suffer hard, they didn't even had toilets in her size. The training program was made for big, powerful, predatory animals, but she mangaged to not only pass the qualifications, no, she even finished best of her class! How did she made that?"

She paused and the audience was glued to her lips, waiting for the answer.

"Heck, I don't know!", she said quickly. The audience laughed. Grinning, she continued.

"She believed, that in Zootopia anyone could become anything. Now picture her, a farm girl bunny moving to the big city, a small prey animal becoming a cop between a bunch of big predators. They thought they could break her will making her a meter maid. But she fought on, she got her first case and she solved her first case – even if she made a small mistake by arresting the mayor on wrong accusations!"

Laughter from the audience. Nick was impressed. Her daughter played with the audience like on an instrument.

"And she found first love during her first mission. A fox. Pred and prey together in love? Today, this seems to be widely accepted and normal… but in the year 2015, this had been unheard of. My father used to tell me the story of their first date where they nearly got kicked out of a restaurant just for sitting at the same table. So she became a pioneer again, the first ever pred-prey couple getting married. And suddenly, couples emerged from everywhere, they had been in hiding, but my mother gave them the courage to advance into the open. Later, she became chief of the police academy that today bears her name. She changed the training programs, so now, all mammals, are they small or big, pred or prey have all a fair chance to become police officers. My father could convince our city council to set up a police station in Little Rodentia with small mammals, and crime rate went down by 76 percent in the first year.

"Anyone can become anything. For 57 recruits, their dream comes true today. I know them all and it had been a pleasure to walk this way with them. But there are two of them I'd like to introduce to you. Not only because both of them owed their life to my mother, but because they stand for my mother's firm believe, that anyone could really become anything. Please give big hands for officer Judy Corleone, ZPD's first arctic shrew!"

Keira lifted the little uniform-clad figure up in the air, so everyone could see her.

"When her mother was pregnant with her, my mother saved her life and became thus her godmother and name patron. Judy will start working in Little Rodentia!"

When the applause died away, Keira put her down and continued.

"The second officer I'd like you to meet is also very special. During the explosion that costs my mom's life, she got injured, being the last animal leaving the school before the bomb went off. Being extraordinarily clever, she finished high school at age 14, college at 16 and finished her doctoral thesis about extracting DNA from extremely small and contaminated samples during her time at the academy! I am sure, she'll bring a lot of bad guys behind bars using her knowledge in her new job as lab technician in ZPD's Crime Scene Investigation unit – big hands for Zootopia's first handicapped police officer, Felona Pini!"

The tabby cat Nick had rescued once out of the gym was still petite, but when her wheelchair was moved to the front of the stage by one of her colleagues, she waved with both paws, laughing, her eyes sparkling. Then, the cat turned her head towards Nick and blew a kiss in his direction. Nick waved back to her, while Leia cheered so loud, Nick's ears started to hurt.

It took quite a while until silence reigned again and Keira could continue.

"But I will not end my speech before thanking a third person. He had influenced so many lives here, it would take days to tell all the stories – and when you are not careful, he'll all tell them himself!"

Animals turned their heads towards Nick and laughed.

"He took me and my sister in after my real parents died, only hours after he found us on a crime scene. No matter what happened in my life, he was there, steadfast, strong, trusting. He taught us to be bold, brave, cunning, to believe in ourselves, to follow our way wherever it may lead us. And I'm not just talking about us kids, I'm talking about all the officers that served under his lead. Please, be upstanding for Honorary Commissioner Nicholas Wilde!"

The crowd stood up, giving applause, the recruits saluted including Keira. Leia stood next to him, tears trickling from her eyes. He managed to stood up without looking too ridiculous. He waved to the crowd. He had the feeling, he stood there for hours and still they did not calm down. When he finally thought he would be done with it, one police officer in the audience shouted, "Three cheers for our good chief! Hip-hip…"

"… HOORAY!" The audience went berserk again and his legs hurt like hell and the sun burned down on his head and all he wished for was an ice cold beer and silence.

Keira had invited some ten friends into her apartment that evening to celebrate graduation. She had insisted on Nick coming with her after the ceremony at ZPD. She helped him up the stairs – her apartment was in a small house on the second floor. Once he had asked her, why she was living in this shabby place – she had got quite a big fortune out of the Lapsa fund when she turned eighteen and Nick had also sold the penthouse for more than 7 million bucks, took a small amount of money to buy a small three room condo with a tiny garden where he could sit and watch the sunset, and had given the bigger part of the rest to his kids. Also, he had paid some hospital bills for Felona and rented a small place with no stairs for her while supporting her in college.

Keira just had shrugged and said, "It's close to the ZPD – I wont need a car."

Her sister had been much more generous with her money, drove a fancy car, lived in a huge house and threw a lot of parties. But being one of Zootopia's most famous actrices, that was expected from her and she had already made quite a lot of money with acting and modeling herself, so Nick was not worried.

Keira literally forced him into her bed and after a long, refreshing nap he felt much better. She refused any help while preparing the party, so he sat useless on the small sofa in the living room and watched her decorating.

At seven, the guests started to come, first Leia wearing a new dress yet again. It was red but at least it was not so transparent and short as the dress she wore at ZPD earlier.

Keira wore a pair of jeans hot pants and a white T-shirt with the ZPD logo on it. Keira pinched her father in the arm and Nick new, she was testing if he was dehydrated.

"You need to drink more!", she insisted, "Four glasses of water, at least!"

"You can't be serious, I will pee like a race horse the whole night!", Nick said.

"Resistence is futile!", she said and pressed the first glass in his hand, "And no alcohol! You have taken your medication!"

More cops appeared, one carrying a wheelchair, the next one, a handsome tiger, holding the giggling Felona in his arms. She looked great in a white jumpsuit. When the tiger wanted to put her in her chair, she said, "No, Colin, thanks, but put me next to Nick!"

When he had obeyed, Felone threw her arms around Nick and kissed him, "Hi, daddy!", she whispered in his ear, "Or should I call you 'chief' in front of the others?"

Everyone, old colleagues, Keira's friends and even the mayor was still calling Nick 'Chief', even three years after his retirement.

"You can call me daddy anytime, darling!", Nick said and kissed her on the forehead. She leaned against him.

The party turned out to be quite nice. Obviously, Keira had commanded her friends to take good care of Nick, so the place on the sofa next to him was always occupied by someone asking for his advice or requesting the story of one of his famous cases.

However, Nick's senses were still sharp enough to notice, that a fox was spending quite a lot of time in Keira's proximity and he caught some looks they exchanged. His name was Brian and he was not a cop.

Nick waited patiently until the seat next to him was empty then he called, "Hey, Brian! Come over here, keep me some company, that's a good lad!"

The fox looked shocked for a second, but then he smiled and sat down, searching the room for Keira, but she was in the kitchen preparing more food for her guests.

"Of course, Chief!", he said.

"You're not a cop, so you will address me as 'sir', understood?", Nick said with a very friendly voice.

The fox gulped, "Yes, sir!"

"Brian, tell me, what do you do for a living?", Nick started the interrogation.

"I'm at the university. I'm just preparing my doctoral thesis in veterinary medicine!"

"Oh, a future vet… you like studying?"

"Oh, yes, sir!"

"You like my daughter?"

"Yes, of co… wait, what? Hell, no, I…", he stuttered and went pale.

"So you dislike her?", Nick continued.

"No! I never said that, but…"

"But you're dating her?"

"Well, sir, I don't know if you could call it a date, we just had…"

Nick had Brian's arm in a firm grip, he gave him his brightest smile while whispering in his ear.

"Listen, sonny, I have interrogated the worst scum of the universe and I _always_ found out the truth in the end… okay, except for two guys, which I had to kill… with bare paws. So, stop feeding me bullshit, I asked two simple yes/no questions. Do you like Keira? Have you two dated?"

Brian was staring at him wide eyed, he was sweating and Nick could see he had lost all color under his fur.

"Yes, sir. And… yes, sir!"

"See, that was easy, wasn't it? And now I'll give you some good advice… when dating a girl, always try to get in her daddy's good book… so…", he pressed his empty water glass in Brian's hand, "… go in the kitchen, second cupboard from the right, upper shelf, there is a bottle of vodka… go, fill my glass to the rim and bring it back to me, okay?"

Brian stared at the glass as if he had never seen one in his life.

"But sir… Keira told me, that you should only have water…"

Nick nodded, "Sure, and I will have lots of water… when I want to wash myself. But, now I'm thirsty, so get me something to drink, capiche?"

Meanwhile, Keira had entered the room and her eyes went wide when she saw Brian and Nick together on the sofa. Brian nodded to Nick without saying another word and Nick released his arm. He got up immediately.

Keira seemed unsure what to do, but decided to simply go on serving snacks. Brian came back, handed the glass over to Nick. He took a long sip out of the glass.

"Ahhhh… that was good. I needed this. Thanks, Brian. You're a real life saver."

"You're welcome, sir!", Brian replied shyly.

Short after midnight, Keira declared the end of the party. Nick would sleep on the sofa. While Keira got him some blankets she asked as casual as possible, "I saw you talking to Brian…"

"Brian?", Nick asked full of innocence, "Oh… Brian! That nice fox fellow? Yes, we had a chat!"

"And… I hope you have not interrogated him…"

"Why?", Nick laughed, "Is he a criminal? No, he told me about his studies… he was so kind to bring me another… glass." No need to tell her about the contents.

"So… you liked him?", Keira asked as if she didn't care at all.

"Seems to be a nice fellow… very bright, good manners… yeah, I think I like him…", Nick replied.

"So… good!", she said, but still she had a strange feeling about it.

When Keira did the dishes in the kitchen while her father was in the bathroom, she talked to her sister.

"I don't like how thin he is! I really think he's not eating enough!"

"But he seemed to have enjoyed himself today!", Leia answered, "Haven't you told him about Brian yet?"

"No, for heaven's sake… and you won't tell a word, understood?"

"Okay, I'll promise…", she gave her sister a naughty grin, "… if you let me sleep here!"

"What? Why that?"

"I drank quite a lot… I don't wanna go home now…"

"Ah, Leia, you know, I have no space with dad sleeping on the sofa…"

"We can share your bed!", Leia suggested.

"We are not twelve anymore… the bed is too small for both of us!"

"Awww… please, sis…"

"You're such a nuisance… well, okay. But only this night! And you'll take dad home first thing after breakfast!"

"Deal! You're the best!"

Suddenly, Nick woke up. There was no specific reason. He turned around on the small sofa when he noticed that for some reason he was wide awake. He sat up and checked the clock on Keira's TV receiver. It was 2:49 am. Maybe a glass of water would help. He stood up and walked as silently as possible through the small apartment. Old habits die hard, so he opened the bedroom door to check on his girls. They were fast asleep huddled together like in the old times. He smiled and walked over to place careful kisses on their heads. He left the room. When he had reached the kitchen, he felt like he had forgotten to close the bedroom door, but when he turned around, the door was closed. Strange. He had been sure, he left it open… whatever.

When he stood in the kitchen, he paused for a second. What did he want here? Oh, water, sure. But he wasn't thirsty at all. For a second he was tempted to get the vodka bottle out again, but decided against it. When he looked out of the kitchen window, he saw a light at the horizon. The sun was rising… no, wait, it was not even 3 am, even in June the sun won't rise that early. But the light was there, no doubt about it. Should he check?

Next thing he noticed was, that he stood in front of the house. He looked back, the front door was closed. Shoot, he had no key, he would have to ring and wake the girls to get back in. But wait… when he had no keys, how did he get through the door? Obviously, Keira had forgotten to lock it. He would have a word with her during breakfast about that.

The light was still there, so he could as well check it out. He wore his T-shirt and boxers, but the street was empty at this time. What irony, if a patrol car would pick him up at this time, in underwear…

He shrugged. He walked towards the light. It was strange, but the houses on both sides of the road seem to shrink back and soon he was on a broad street with huge trees casting shadows left and right. Suddenly he stopped when he noticed he had forgotten his canes. But his legs felt good. Maybe the vodka was better than all the medicine he took.

He walked on. He now saw the light, it was not the sun, of course, but some strange light, white and bright, but even so he could look directly into it. Someone stood there, producing a black silhouette. Nick stopped. The figure in front of him came closer. It didn't walk, no… it hopped like… like a bunny.

The closer the figure came, the more details Nick saw. Long ears. Grey fur, sparkling like starlight. A black dress, cut low. Purple eyes, radiating pure happiness.

"Hey, Carrots!", he said.

She looked splendid, like on the day of their first date. She smiled at him.

"Hey, Nick. Cool boxers!", she giggled.

Nick couldn't help but laughed with her. Hell, this was obviously a dream, so why not.

"Dumb fox. This is no dream. Wanna walk with me?"

"Sure. Have you waited long for me?"

She shrugged, "There is no time here. I just arrived seconds ago. Or ten thousand years, who knows?"

When they walked on, Nick noticed that the shadows on both sides of the road were no trees, but other animals. Nick stopped when he recognized the first two of them.

"Mom… dad…", he said.

"Nicholas…", his mother said, "we can't tell you, how proud we are of you, my son…"

Before he could answer anything, they vanished and were replaced by another fox couple Nick didn't know.

"Thanks for taking care of our daughters. We're so grateful for what they have become, thanks to you two…"

More animals came, greeting him, there was Clawhauser, thin and young, and Stu gave him a thumbs up. He spotted Chief Bogo, he carried a bikini-clad Kitty on his arms, she had wrapped both arms around him.

"We never had the courage to be together like you two did…", Bogo said, but he looked happy, at last.

This went on for quite some time, but in the end, all animals had vanished, except one little white bunny giving Nick a huge smile. Fay's eyes were of the darkest brown, nearly black. She reached for Nick's hand and hand in hand the three of them walked on until they stood before the light.

"And now… what?", Nick asked.

Fay laughed, "Who is the blind one now? Take a closer look!"

Nick looked again and then he saw. It was very different to that strange dream 22 years ago when he had first seen Her. Fay had been right: She was impossible to describe. She changed shape all the time, just when Nick was sure he had reckognized what animal She was, She changed again. Her voice was smooth and soft, but full of power, like the bells of an ancient church tower.

"So, here you are, my brave, good fox!", she greeted him.

Nick wasn't able to say anything, so he concentrated on Her eyes. These eyes seemed to be the only constant in her everchanging features. They were mild and full of love even though Nick was unable to tell which color they were.

"We've met before, but I had to sent you back as the plans I had for you were not fulfilled… but you were confused and so I sent you guidance and here Fay played her part as I planned…"

For the first time in Her presence, Nick managed to speak up.

"And Judy? Was it also a part of your plan to take her away from her kids? From me?"

The voice of Her remained friendly.

"You are angry. But words can't explain my plans for the world and I do not want to disclose them to you, my friend, for I will not have it so. Listen to your beloved Judy, she told you that time does not matter here. What is the cloud's plan when it let go of one raindrop? Do the other raindrops care? Do they complain?"

Nick stood in front of Her and had no answer.

"Close your eyes!", She said softly.

He did and felt the strangest movement over his head. When he opened his eyes, the light was gone. He stood in the darkness, but somehow he could still see. Judy stood still next to him, but Fay was no longer there.

"Where do we go from here?", he asked.

"Wherever you want to go", she said.

"What will we do?"

"Whatever you want to do!"

"You mean… even if we…", he smirked.

Judy giggled, than hopped in his arm, pressed her mouth against his ear and whispered, "Why do you think they call this place paradise?"

Two police officers, one camel and a ferret, walked down the corridor of honor. The light was grey in here as it was raining. The camel carried a tool kit, the ferret a huge cardboard box.

When they reached their destination, they stood in silence for a second. They were all alone as standard procedures commanded the corridor to be closed off for that kind of work.

"I don't know…", the ferret says, "It feels wrong…"

"Hey, you heard the chief. His orders were clear, weren't they?", the camel replied.

"Yeah, sure, but… look, all those pictures have the same spacing, 8 inches each side, it looks neat and I just think…"

"But this one is different, won't you agree?"

"I hate it when you're right!", the ferret hissed.

"Better get used to it. Let's start."

They were professionals, they had done it often enough. They drilled holes, then the ferret opened the box and took out a framed picture. He carefully attached it on the wall mountings. They had measured precisely, the frame was touching the frame of the adjacent picture. They continued with the brass plate.

When they were finished, they cleaned up meticulously after them and the ferret took out a silk cloth to wipe the brass plate until it was flawless. As usual, they folded their paws and hooves and lowered their heads. The bunny and the fox were now together, separated just by the wooden frames.

For the last time, they checked the inscription on the new brass plate:

 _NICHOLAS P. WILDE_

 _BRAVERY – TRUST - INTEGRITY_

 _Born 1989, joined ZPD 2015_

 _Service Star in Gold 2015_

 _Secret Service Silver Star 2018_

 _Promoted Lieutenant 2019_

 _Promoted Captain 2024_

 _Chief of ZPD 2024_

 _Crime Fighting Award 2026_

 _Elected Citizen of the Year 2030_

 _Chief of Zootopia Boy Scouts 2031_

 _Retired 2034_

 _Upon retirement promoted to Honorable Commissioner_

 _Died 2037_

The ferret sighed, "Well, I think, that's it! At least, everyone will look at them this way…"

"You still don't get it, you moron!", the camel shook his head.

They had just turned around the corner, when a young girl appeared. The vixen in police uniform walked quickly towards the new double picture, well aware that the corridor could be reopened any minute now. She knelt down in front of the picture. She took out a dented and battered police badge and held it in her hands, tears splashing down on it from her red eyes.

"I love you, daddy", she whispered, "Give mom a kiss, will you?"

She heard voices down the corridor and quickly wiped the tears off her face and put her mother's badge back in her pocket. Her radio cracked, "Hey, officer Wilde, did you fall asleep, or what? I'm waiting at the car, so you better get your foxy ass down here!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!", she replied and started to hurry down the corridor, but then she stopped and turned around to take a last look. The sun had forced it's way through the rain clouds and a single beam made the double brass plates sparkle. Keira threw back her head and laughed.

"My parents – typical! So emotional…"

Smiling, she turned around and started to run down to the garage.

THE END


End file.
